


Derry's Prodigal Son

by Basilintime



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Eddie leaves Myra, Eddie loses everything, F/F, F/M, M/M, Mostly feel good, Myra is emotionally abusive, Schitt's Creek AU, Some hurt/comfort, but perhaps he'll find love?, heavily borrowed plot and some locations from Schitt's Creek, mainly fluff with a bit of angst, may bring in some of the characters as side characters as well, may have sexy times later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-25
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:26:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 24,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21554596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Basilintime/pseuds/Basilintime
Summary: Eddie Kaspbrak loses everything when it comes to light his mother, Sonia, had wracked up a ton of debt in his name with the help of his wife, Myra. When he realizes he's losing everything, he's motivated to make a completely clean cut by divorcing his wife who he was already unhappy with and just starting fresh with the one asset he has left.His father's hometown, Derry.As he adjusts to an extreme change of circumstances while dealing with escaping his unhappy marriage, Eddie will find a new family and perhaps even love in the tiny town.
Relationships: Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh, Bill Denbrough/Mike Hanlon/Stanley Uris, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Patricia Blum/Audra Phillips
Comments: 33
Kudos: 44





	1. A Glass Half Empty

“Eddieeee!” 

Myra’s voice reached him from downstairs as Eddie sat near their front door looking over the forms that he’d been handed by the men who had shown up at their door. They were in the house now, moving to take their possessions, the things he had worked hard to be able to afford. To own. Apparently, all that hard work had become a moot point thanks to one person who wasn’t even alive any more for him to confront.

His mother had passed three months ago, something Eddie had a mix of feelings about, but at that moment his main emotion was anger. Sonia Kaspbrak had wracked up enough debt in her last few years under _his name_ to ruin him. And, from everything he could see, it had been done with the help of his wife, Myra. His wife who now appeared at the top of the stairs dramatically, weeping openly as she screamed his name once more at the sight of their living room furniture being carried out the large front doors.

“EDDIE! You’ve got to stop them. Why are you just letting them take our things? One of them said we’re losing the house?” Myra had those big crocodile tears she weaponized against him so often streaming down her cheeks. She had been close to Sonia, hell, he’d married her in large part because Sonia had approved of her. The fact that it was because the two of them had been so similar hadn’t escaped him.

“Did you help my mom open up debt in my name?” Eddie narrowed his eyes at Myra as he flipped the page of the report he’d been given. It was several pages long, practically a book, as it cataloged all the different things that he’d apparently been made responsible for. He paused as he looked at some of the listed debt, this time only in his name that he still didn’t recognize.

“What?” Myra’s tears had stopped with the question, turned off like a switch by her surprise, but as it seemed to set in what he had asked she turned them right back on with another wail. “How can you ask me that?”

“Did you help my mom open debt in my name?” Eddie wanted to be understanding, wanted to give her the chance to explain as she came to sit besides him. Threw her arms around him and weighed him down as she sobbed, held on a little too tightly as she always did.

“I may have…signed your name on a few things but, she’s your mother, Eddie. She took care of you, kept you safe until I was able to take over for her. You owed her a little help, you owed her for working so hard to keep you healthy and safe. You were so delicate as a child, you’re so delicate even now.” Eddie tried to shrug her off as she pawed at the paper in his hands. Tried to take it from him and he had to struggle to get free while still holding it in his hands.

“This isn’t a small amount, Myra, we’re losing everything with this. Did you realize this goes into millions? I don’t understand what she even spent all of this one.” Eddie was trying to keep his temper. Myra’s tears had slowed again as she watched him pace. He had to sidestep out of the way of some of the workers as they took the large mirror that had stood at the end of the hall out the door.

“You should be more grateful, you know. A lot of that was spent to make sure you stayed healthy. Besides, just pay it off and we’ll be fine. Tell them that you’ll pay it, Eddie.” There was still that whine in Myra’s voice but there was a demand there too now. A reminder that he _needed_ them. That Sonia and Myra were the only ones who truly understood how to make sure Eddie stayed healthy. Fragile, his mother had called him as a child; delicate according to Myra. Easily controlled.

“I don’t recognize any of this, Myra, this wasn’t to ‘help’ me with anything and I’ve been managing just fine. This is…we don’t have this, Myra. We’re good, we’re rich but we’re not this. I’ll be amazed if we’re left with anything with this. They can close out the business with this.” He didn’t know what to do. His father had opened this business, he had taken in on after he had passed with careful direction from his mother while he was younger.

She had had nothing to really do with the business itself but had constantly fretted and worried at Eddie in regards to it. Made sure he understood it was what they needed, that it was the only way for him to take care of her which meant the only way she could take care of him. He’d been in and out of the hospital in the years following his father’s death for things Eddie hadn’t even realized he’d been suffering from.

_You didn’t actually suffer from them._ The voice spoke in the back of his mind. An awareness that he hadn’t truly been as sick as Sonia had wanted him to believe. As sick as Myra constantly reminded him that he was.

“Then you’ll just have to open another one, Eddie. Get a fresh start. You can do it, you did so well with your father’s business. It will be stressful but we’ll manage it. You can take care of the business and I’ll take care of you. Make sure you’re staying healthy.” Myra stood up to come and cling to him once more, tried to pull the financial report away from him as he felt his phone ring in his pocket. Likely his lawyer calling him back after attempting to figure out just what had happened.

Eddie looked at Myra for a moment. Felt a strange sense of disgust at her insistence, at her closeness, at her ever-smothering presence when all he wanted was to walk out the front door and run. He felt instantly guilty at the thought, knew that it was ungrateful after everything. Myra had put up with his poor healthy; had loved him despite it. He knew he owed her, to stick with her even if he had realized long ago that he wasn’t in love with her.

_Who else would take you, Eddie?_

“I want a divorce.” The words tumbled out, surprising them both, and Eddie flinched some at the look that crossed over Myra’s face. Surprise, hurt, anger and then the tears. The anger didn’t go away but the tears came flowing out, large and messy.

“You what?”

“I want a divorce. I think we should get divorced.” Eddie said it again but sounded less certain of himself this time. His phone started ringing again and he scrambled to dig it out of his pocket to answer it. Saw that it really was his lawyer and he fumbled to pick it up as he started towards the door at a quick pace. He knew he was trying to put distance, trying to run before Myra could convince him that he hadn’t meant it.

“Eddie? That you?” His lawyer’s voice came from over the phone as he heard Myra call after him in full breakdown mode. Tears and that high-pitched whine as his legs started picking up speed.

“It was Myra.” Eddie said the words in a rush, knew that the repo guys were watching him as he started across their large well-manicured lawn.

“I saw that too. Look, problem is she is on all your accounts. You two are a packaged deal so the fact that she signed off that the loans and credit accounts mean there isn’t a lot of recourse. You’re not losing _everything_. Are you running?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I am. Look, I’m filing for divorce-“

“EDDIEEEEEEEE!”

“Let her have most of whatever might be left. I’ll take enough to have a place to stay and try and get back on my feet. Myra can have the rest.” Eddie was running now, running faster than he probably had since he’d been a kid when he’d sneak off to the park to play with some of the other kids back in his old hometown.

“Well, Eddie, there’s not going to be quite that much. You’ll have enough to have some time to figure out what you’re going to do. All the assets are going to be gone though except one.”

“EDDIE KASPBRAK! YOU GET BACK HERE!” Myra’s voice still carried after him but Eddie knew she wouldn’t be following him by the fact she sounded more distant than before. Eddie kept going, down the drive now, mind racing about as fast as he was running now.

_Eddie runs quite fast when you’re not here, Mrs. Kaspbrak._

“What asset?” Eddie only slowed when he reached the main road at the end of their drive. When he realized if he kept running, all their neighbors would see now. He huffed lightly, felt that creeping worry that his asthma was going to kick in and he had no inhaler to save himself with. He took a few deep breathes though and it felt oddly easy to draw in air given the distance he’d just sprinted.

“Your father left you his old hometown of Derry. You might remember it from when you were young. Your father owned it and left it to you when he died. Remember?” His lawyer’s voice sounded a bit uncertain and Eddie frowned as he tried to think back. He remembered something about his father leaving him ‘Derry’. His mom had always dismissed it as a joke, what would Eddie do with that little dingy town?

“Wait, what? He actually owned that town?”

“Yes, it was detailed as one of your inherited items back in his will…” Eddie glanced back as he heard the sound of a car engine coming down the drive. Felt a panic as he realized it was one of their cars and he thought for all of two seconds before diving into the line of trees and bushes that lined the road. He got tangled in the branches, tumbling and falling down the small embankment until he came to rest in a forgotten section of tall grass and damp earth. He laid there, listening to the car drive past with no certainty it had actually been Myra coming to find him or not.

“I’ll take the town. Give her the rest. Just get me divorced.”

ꙮ

Eddie had barely any recollection of Derry from the few times they’d come when he was young. He hadn’t been expecting it to be New York or LA or any of that but as he stood outside the motel where he’d been told to meet the town mayor, Bill Denbrough, at he felt like he’d still been over estimating things. The place looked like ground zero for the re-emergence of the plague. Eddie hesitated a moment on opening the door of the office, glanced back behind him at the few things he had left being unloaded off the moving truck and left on the actual curb.

“I’ve died and ended up in hell. Wonderful.” He muttered it to himself as he turned to open the door only to find that it had been opened for him. A man about his age was looking back at him with an unimpressed look on his face.

“You m-m-m-must be Mr. Kaspb-b-brak?” Eddie felt a nervous flush of embarrassment as the expression on the guy’s face made it clear he’d heard the ‘hell’ comment. He looked down as he was offered a hand and reached out to shake it as he tried to recall just where in his main bag his hand sanitizer was.

“I am. Are you Mr. Denbrough?” Eddie stepped inside when the guy motioned for him to; found himself in a small front desk area where a brilliant looking red-headed woman was sitting behind the counter with an amused expression on her face.

“Please call me B-b-bill. We’ve got you set up in a room for free. Consider it a gift from me and the council.” Bill seemed to speak carefully, clearly attempting to keep the stutter out of his voice as he did. He gave Eddie another one of those looks that seemed to suggest he wasn’t quite as welcoming as he was pretending to be. The woman behind the counter turned to snag a key off the wall to offer out towards him with a smile.

“You’ll be in room three. Best room in the house, not that that’s saying much.”

“I can imagine it’s not.” Eddie said as he took the key from her with a tense smile. He’d been on the road for a long time, driving up to Maine in a rented truck had left him feeling tired and frazzled. Not to mention the constant calls from Myra that he was avoiding. The divorce was going forward, not that she seemed willing to acknowledge it. He hadn’t told her where he was moving to specifically.

“S-s-so sorry it’s not up to your s-standards.” Bill spoke up sounding less than thrilled and Eddie winced. He was trying not to get on everyone’s bad side the first day but this was an adjustment. Once he could do. One he had chosen to do. But still…definitely different than his large house where he’d lived a decently comfortable if unhappy life. “Let’s go get your stuff moved in.”

“I’m Bev, by the way. You’ll be seeing a lot of me given I’m my sole employee.” Eddie felt a new flush of embarrassment rise in his face as he realized what she was implying. Bev leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest as she gave him another one of those looks that seemed to indicate she was enjoying his misery.

“Eddie. Nice to meet you.”

He turned and moved to follow behind Bill feeling like this had been a mistake. He had spoken without thinking when he’d said that Myra could take everything but the town. He should have given Myra the town. Not that she would have settled for that. She had agreed to take what was left of their savings but still continued to try and convince him to talk it out.

Bill was already over by the truck lifting some of his bags up to head towards one of the room doors and Eddie scrambled to catch up so he could unlock it. For some reason he felt the need to get the guy’s approval. Maybe it’s because Eddie’s potential comfort appeared to be within his control. Bill gave him a tight smile as they met at the door of the room and Eddie fumbled with the key for a few seconds.

“Jesus Christ…” Eddie didn’t manage to catch the reaction as he finally pushed into the room. He was pretty certain it was small than his old entry way. There was a bed that he highly suspected to have bed bugs. He’d have to strip the sheets and burn them if Bev would allow him to. He’d have to burn the entire thing if he thought he could afford a bed at the moment. The kitchen was small with what he sincerely hoped wasn’t a gas stove. He didn’t need to be killed by faulty equipment leaking carbon monoxide into his room.

“D-do you mind?” Eddie jumped at the sound of Bill’s voice close behind him and then realized he was blocking the doorway. He stepped further into the room, immediately feeling the need to take a hot shower as he looked around. He was about to protest when Bill heaved his bags up onto the bed, cringed at the thought of having to burn them now as well.

Eddie tried to do a quick scope of the rest of the room. A door in the back appeared to lead into a bathroom and another door on the wall near the bed had a chain lock on it. He frowned at it for a moment, wondered if it was a closet or something like that.

“It’s the next door ro-room. The door locks and no one’s staying in there anyway.” Bill patted him on the shoulder as he passed, answering the question Eddie hadn’t even asked. Eddie felt a small hint of dread solidify in his gut as he turned to follow him back out to the moving truck.

“Why is there a door in between the rooms?”

“It’s s-so when the people in the two rooms know each other they can ch-choose to cross between them.” Bill picked up a couple more of his bags, turned to hand them off to him before grabbing the last one from where it was still in the back of the truck.

“Is the door lock secure? What if someone does check in there?” Eddie tried to keep some of the nerves out of his voice. Reality was coming down around him and he wasn’t feeling all that steady on his feet. His chest felt tight and it seemed a bit hard to breath. He was certain he was having an asthma attack and he tried to think where his inhaler was.

“It’s perfectly sa-fe. A lot of places have them. Look…” Eddie trailed behind Bill back into his tomb… _room_ and when he stopped short Eddie almost ran into him. Eddie dropped the bags in favor of grabbing onto him to keep from toppling them both over and Bill ended up steadying them. “S-sorry, you okay?”

“Yeah, no, my fault. Sorry. Shit, look, I’m sure it’s fine. I’m sure the door’s fine, I’m sure the town’s fine. I’m just…it’s been a long fucking day. A long fucking few weeks actually. Thank you…for this.”

“Well, you own the place, right?”

“Yeah, not really intentionally. Honestly, when my dad said he owned his old home town when I was a kid, I figured it was a joke. I just…guess it wasn’t, huh?” Bill’s expression softened a little as he spoke and his last bag was set down with a little more care than the two before it.

“Get some rest. There’s a place in town, Café Tropical, has some good food so you can grab dinner later. Tell the waitress, Patty, that I sent you and she’ll get you your first meal free.” Bill gave him a soft pat on the shoulder before moving past him. “This is a good town. Maybe try to keep in mind it’s where your f-father grew up. Can’t be t-that bad, right?”

“Yeah…right.” Eddie said with a slight nod feeling a bit thrown off.

Bill closed the door behind him and Eddie looked around his new home. He carefully picked up his bags and set them on the small table that was near the kitchen rather than on the bed before heading to check out the bathroom. A hot shower still sounded amazing, wash the day away.

“Fuck…” Eddie peeked into the bathroom and found the small shower and toilet crowded close together. He carefully stepped inside, eyeing the weird seashell shaped plastic slip pads that were stuck to the bottom of the tub dubiously. It looked functional though. And relatively clean. He took a deep breath, tried to remind himself that he’d chosen this for a reason.

It would be a fresh start. Away from all the things he’d lost and the things he’d wanted to leave behind. And, besides, his father had grown up there after all. Just like Bill had said.

Movement caught Eddie’s eye in the tub and he saw a roach suddenly scurry towards the drain from where it had been hiding behind one of those anti-slip pads. Eddie threw himself back at the sight of it, string of curses breaking lose as he slammed the bathroom door shut deciding a shower wasn’t actually worth it.

_Yeah, well…dad left for a reason._


	2. Damn Fine Cobbler

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eddie tries to head into town for dinner his first night but finds that Derry doesn't have much in the way of public transportation.

Eddie had decided he needed to get out of the motel, needed to see something that might actually be nice in this ridiculous place. This had been a mistake but he was here. It was all he had left so he didn’t have a choice. At least, he didn’t until he figured out how to get his feet back under him. He hoped that getting something to eat would help reframe the entire situation.

He pushed his way back into the motel office and felt relieved to see that Bev was still there. She looked up at him from over the top of the magazine she was reading, some fashion rag that he was amazed this place had even heard of.

“Can you call you me a car or taxi or whatever it is you all use here?” Eddie still had the rental truck but he didn’t want to try and navigate that through town. He was dreading the task of driving it back to the rental company in the morning. He’d spent far too much time inside the thing as it was and it had been a nightmare to drive. He wasn’t exactly ready to climb into that death trap again. He missed his old SUV but it had been taken as collateral with everything else.

“Yeah, so I hate to tell you this but we don’t really have a car service. Or taxi’s even. We’re a pretty small town, most people just walk if they want to drive themselves. There are some bikes in the back, you could take one of them?” Bev gave him a smile, soft and holding what almost seemed like an actual apology in it though her tone didn’t exactly sound sorry.

“I’m sorry, a bike? I haven’t ridden a bike since I was a kid.” Eddie stared at her as he tried to figure out if this was a joke or not. He could barely remember the last time he’d actually ridden a bike. It was when his father was still alive, his mom hadn’t let him near them. They were death traps and to ride one down along the roads was even riskier.

“Oh, you should be fine then. They don’t say that things are like “riding a bike” for no reason. Come on, let’s find you one.” Bev set her magazine down, getting up from her chair to step around the counter. Eddie was certain that he really had ended up in the worst place on earth. How his father had grown up here was beyond him though he could understand why they hadn’t come back very often. If it hadn’t been for his mother and Myra then he wouldn’t have come back here either.

Bev tugged her flannel around herself a little more as she headed towards the back of the office to step out through a back door. Eddie trailed behind her trying to remember how to breathe, patted at his pockets to make sure his inhaler was there. He found it in his sweater’s pocket, wrapped his hand around it as they stepped outside to the back of the motel that somehow looked even more like some sort of abandoned horror show.

He watched as Bev moved over to the fence that clearly surrounded the dumpster and tugged one of three bikes loose to roll over to him. Eddie tried to bite his tongue, tried to take the stance that she was trying to be helpful. This…this wasn’t helpful though. That was all he could think as she pulled the old silver rocket up in front of him and gave him a look Eddie felt was more than a little mischievous.

“You really want me to ride that into town?”

“Well, yeah. I mean, you don’t have to. I just figured it’d be better than walking.” Eddie worried at his nail for a moment with his front teeth, glanced at his watch to see the time as he felt his stomach give a grumbling reminder that he was actually hungry. He took a deep breath as he looked at the bike once more before just giving his head a shake.

“That thing looks like it could give me tetanus from here. That’s not even mentioning the fact that it probably will fall apart the second I get even halfway down the road.” Eddie pointed at the bike in disbelief, felt that sense of panic and shoved his hand in his pocket once more to reach for his inhaler. Pulled it out this time, shaking it ruthlessly before taking a puff as Bev watched him with a soft frown.

“Are you okay?” Eddie held his breath, held in the medicine so it could help open up his airways and then took another puff as he glanced at Bev and nodded. She pushed the kickstand on the bike down so that it was standing on its own. 

“How far is it to this café? Tropicana?” Eddie spoke while trying to hold in that second medicated breath for a few moments.

“Tropical?” Bev supplied helpfully.

“Yeah, that one.”

“It’s not far; about two miles down the road. You’d want to take a right down main street when you reach it and you can’t miss it.” Bev’s smile faded just a little, a look that almost appeared to be a little bit of real concern on her face as he looked at the bike once more before shaking his head. He couldn’t do it, not on a bike that looked like it hadn’t been maintained for over twenty years.

However, if Eddie’s experience at the gym told him anything it was that he could easily walk that far for a meal as long as he had his inhaler with him. The problem would be that he’d be walking back in the dark in an unfamiliar town that looked like the perfect place for a killer to drop off bodies as they passed through. Walking was going to be safer than riding that death trap either way though.

“Right, I’ll walk. Thanks anyway.” Eddie turned, moved to head back through the office of the motel to the front.

“Are you sure?” Bev called after him and Eddie just nodded as he pulled the door open. He was at a loss, he was at the end of his rope, and all Eddie wanted was for something to go smoothly. If he had to walk to the restaurant, then that’s what he would do. He might just grab his pepper spray first…just in case.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Eddie walked back out the front of the motel to leave Bev behind.

*

The sun was setting a little faster than Eddie had expected as he made his way down the road. There were trees lining both sides and it was single lane in either direction. They mustn’t get a whole lot of tourism at this place. Eddie had  _ no idea _ why; the place had just been an absolute  _ dream _ for him so far. He felt like he was in the middle of nowhere as he made his way down the road; hoped that he was even heading in the right direct as the light continued to dim around him. 

He heard the car as it came down the road behind him and stepped further off to the side. Eddie tucked his hands into his pockets as he made certain that the inhaler was there. It wouldn’t do him much good if this was the serial killer scoping him out as his next victim but he’d be able to run for a bit. Maybe. Short bursts. His mom had always harped on him not to run too far because his lungs would give out; he’d have an asthma attack and die she’d say. Granted, his mother had told him a lot of things growing up that had ended up being bullshit but still. 

Eddie’s nerves jumped even more as he heard the car slow, saw it out of the corner of his eye as it matched his pace and the passenger side window rolled down. It was an old worn out looking BMW in a dusty blue that looked like it hadn’t been touched up in the last decade. He kept his eyes forward, wondered if he ran into the trees here if he’d eventually come out in civilization or get lost forever. 

“Hey, Room Three.” 

Eddie tensed as he heard the driver call out to him. It was a woman but that didn’t ease his mind any. Women were just as capable of being murders. 

“Mr. Kaspbrak.” 

Eddie stopped as he realized that the person had called out his name. He turned and found himself looking at Bev through the window as she leaned across the seat. She stopped her car short when he stopped walking. 

“What? Why aren’t you back at the motel being rude to customers?” Eddie glanced down the road feeling a little paranoid. Sure, Bev didn’t come across as someone who’d shove him in the trunk of her car and then drive it into a lake but with the day he’d been having so far it wouldn’t be that surprising of an end. Hell, maybe Eddie would have welcomed it compared to the situation he’d found himself in.

“I make my own hours. I do own the place besides we don’t have any more reservations for the night and I can tell you that we’re probably not going to have anyone show up. Look, would you like a ride to the cafe? Maybe some company?” 

“You’re kidding, right?” The words sniped out of him faster than he could think better given the fact that he was currently standing on the side of an abandoned stretch of highway in the middle of the night. 

“If you’d rather walk-”

“No, of course I wouldn’t rather walk. God, do you know how easily I could get hit by a car out here?” Eddie pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration as he spoke, could feel the thrum of a headache wanting to settle in. Bev had acted as if she was going to start driving again but she didn’t. She stopped and gave him a thoughtful look for a few moments before leaning over the passenger seat to pop the door open for him. 

Eddie climbed in with a soft huff, glanced down the road one more time as the shadows stretched even further. At least he wasn’t going to get murdered...tonight. Bev didn’t wait for him to buckle before she hit the gas and the evening stretch of woods passed by at a much faster pace than before. There were a few moments of strained silence between them as she didn’t say any sort of acknowledgement of his presence. Instead, she leaned forward to turn on the radio at a quiet level; soft jazz tones come from the speakers as Eddie relaxed a little in the seat. 

“Thank you.” Eddie said it after a few moments when it felt a little like his blood pressure had gone down some and once the silence finally got to him. Bev raised her eyebrows with a little look of surprise as she glanced in his direction. 

“You’re welcome.” 

She spoke shortly, didn’t elaborate any further but let the silence fall between them again. Nat King Cole sang from the radio and Eddie felt that overwhelming sense try to over take him like it had so many times over the course of this entire mess. He had no idea what to do with himself, even being here in Derry had been a desperate move that so far seemed like it would just fall through as well. He rested his elbow against the armrest of the car door, looked out the window and bit down on his tongue in hopes he could help the tears at bay. 

“You okay over there, Kaspbrak?” 

“Eddie. Please, just call me Eddie.” He shook his head and fought against the fact he could feel that break in his voice threatening. 

“You okay over there, Eddie?” She spoke gentler this time and he knew some of that emotion had leaked out. He took a deep breath and sat up straighter as he turned to look at her. He could see now the lights from town already ahead, a single green light sitting at an intersection a couple short blocks away. 

“Yeah, I’m good. Perfect. Just been having the worst time of my entire life. My mom died, which I have extremely mixed emotions about to begin with, but then I find out that she squandered, not only all the money my father left her when he passed but also all the money I actually had myself running myself and my business into the ground once it came to light just how many ‘good faith’ credit accounts she’d put in  _ my name _ with the help of my now ex-wife. That one I’m actually pretty damn okay with other than the fact that what tiny little bit I had left to name with the except of this shithole of a town went to her so that she didn’t fight the entire process. And on top of it all, I think I’m having a panic attack.” 

Eddie felt the constriction in his chest and he pulled out his inhaler desperately from his pocket to suck down a couple of aspirations of the medicine inside. It helped, no, it didn’t really help. Eddie shoved his head between his knees and tried to suck in some deep breaths, tried to get a fucking grip because he didn’t need to be doing this. Not now, not in front of a practical stranger who had totally just spilled everything to in the span of two seconds. 

“Whoa, okay...hey, it will be just fine, Eddie. Just take some deep breaths.” He felt the car slow down as Bev pulled into a parking lot. Her hand pressed gently on his back as she spoke in quiet tones to him as he squeezed his eyes shut tight against it all. He tried to tune everything out so he could get a hold of himself. He felt Bev’s hand move in soft circles on his back as her voice droned calmly and quietly nearby. 

“Sorry, I’m sorry. I’m just...in a really weird place right now.” Eddie spoke once he got air back in his lungs, felt the tension ease but not disappear entirely. That knot that had been there for weeks now still stayed tense and settled in his chest as he sat back, pressed his hands over his face as he tried to chase away the last of the emotion. He should have grabbed his emergency bottle of valium TM rather than the inhaler. Both would have been good too. 

“Well, you are in Derry, hunny. Are you feeling up to going in to get some mediocre food? Maybe that will help some.” Bev patted him on the shoulder and Eddie peeked out at her from between his fingers as he kept his hands pressed to his face for a few more moments before dragging them down and off as he looked outside the car. They were parked alongside the road but just a little distance ahead he could see the lights on inside one of the storefront windows that had a sign overhead that declared it  _ Cafe Tropicana  _ in blocky typeface. 

“Yeah...yeah. I guess I can handle that. Do they serve alcohol? Maybe an appletini?” Eddie turned to look at Bev expectantly and she stared at him for a moment before giving a soft laugh. 

“It’s good that you have a sense of humor still, Eddie. Means your soul hasn’t been completely corrupted. Come on.” 

“I was being serious.” Eddie said with a frown as Bev popped her door open. 

“I know. That’s why it’s funny.” Bev gave him a flash of a smile that was a bit charming and more than just a little sardonic before she got out of the car. She closed the door and left him inside on his own for a second as Eddie looked towards the restaurant once more before following suit. 

*

“Bev! I figured you’d still be at the motel!” 

Eddie heard the woman behind the counter greet Beverly cheerfully as he trailed in behind her. The place was what Myra would have once described as being ‘rustic’ in her attempt to be polite though the look on her face would have been anything but. Eddie had the vague sense of memory as he glanced around and found himself wondering if he’d been here when he was younger. Those early years when his father would still bring them back during summers for visits were all the blend of a heat-colored haze of childhood. 

There were a few other people inside sitting at the counter. Another redhead that was dressed sharply and a man with curly hair sitting in scrubs near where the server was standing. They both looked back at him curiously, their conversation pausing seemingly in an instant. 

“Hey Patty. I checked out a bit early so I can bring our newest resident down for some dinner.” 

Eddie caught the look that passed between them, a raising of their eyebrows that seemed to say more than he liked. He was starting to get the distinct impression that people here weren’t exactly happy with his presence but in the next second Patty leveled a sweet but metered smile in his direction. 

“So, you’re Mr. Kaspbrak! Bill told me you’d be coming by for some food on the house.” 

“The guy owns the town but apparently can’t manage to pay for his own food.” The redhead at the counter spoke up and the guy sitting with her gave a soft roll of his eyes as he turned back to his coffee. There definitely was some reason that he was less than welcome here and Eddie gave a nervous sort laugh. 

“Audra, play nice.” Patty swatted playfully at the woman with a towel she picked up to wipe down a section of the counter before motioning for him to sit down. Eddie felt the defensive words rise up in his throat but Bev gave him a sharp shake of her head in warning. He frowned as he followed her to some of the empty bar stools to sit down; watched from the corner of his eye as Audra caught the towel Patty playfully swiped at her to pull her closer so she could sneak a kiss from over the counter. 

“So, Patty, Eddie here has been having a bit of a rough time. I was thinking he could use one of your peach cobblers if you’ve got any left for the day?” Bev spoke up for them as they got settled in a clean section of the counter as the two of them parted. Despite the dig from Audra, Eddie felt a small sense of happiness at the sight of them being openly affectionate. A small sign of a life he could have had if he’d not felt pinned under his mother’s presence; expected to fall in line with a certain set of expectations. 

“Of course. One peach cobbler? Or would like one too, Bev?” Patty’s focus returned to them as she gave a soft smile that seemed genuine. Eddie could still see some hint of curiosity as she glanced over him. Eddie was starting to wonder just what exactly had made his father stop coming here. He had never honestly thought to ask when he was younger, had all but forgotten about the place until it had been stirred up in his memories, and now he was about a couple of decades too late to ask him. 

“Sure, I’ll take one too. A coffee as well. Black.” 

“Coming right up. Audra, why don’t you come back and help me, sweetheart?” Patty gave Audra a meaningful look and crooked her finger in her direction. Audra gave him a small tense smile once more before hopping off her barstool. 

“Of course, baby, anything for you.” Audra strode on long legs and heels around the counter to follow Patty in the back. When they disappeared into the kitchen it left them alone with the guy Audra had been sitting with and an awkward moment of silence fell between them all. 

Eddie took the chance to look around the place, got that sense of deja vu once more as he took in the decor. He could almost picture it, sitting in one of the booths, legs kicking under the table in boredom while his father had talked about business or something of the like with someone Eddie couldn’t picture anymore. 

“How’s the clinic going, Stan?” Bev spoke up towards their company and Eddie’s focus was drawn back to him. Eddie got the sense that Stan had been somewhat hoping that they wouldn’t pull him into the conversation as he met Eddie’s eyes for a moment and then quickly looked back to Bev. 

“It’s going good, Bev. Been a bit busy lately.” There was another one of those complicated face journeys that Eddie couldn’t fully read between Bev and Stan. He felt like he was some sort of second head that Bev had grown and everyone was doing their best to ignore or berate and he was a little over it as he leaned to catch Stan’s eyes again. 

“Are you a doctor?” It wouldn’t hurt to get to know the local doctor. He’d need to keep on top of his medication and the last thing he needed was some small town doctor decided to withhold from him. Stan gave a soft huff of laughter as if he could read Eddie’s hopefulness on him and the small was charming and one of the first looks completely devoid of that sense of aggravation everyone else had seemed to level at him. 

“A vet actually. Sort of prefer animals rather than people.” 

Stan gave a soft shrug as he shifted to face them both a little more. There was still something there as if he was waiting for Eddie to realize something. Eddie had no idea what that something might be though that sense of familiarity was there once more. His father must have brought him here at some point during one of their visits before his father had stopped bringing him here through the summer months.

“I think I can understand that sometimes.” 

“And here you two go. Peach cobblers all around.” 

Audra reappeared carrying three plates with the skills of someone who had definitely spent some time as a waitress. She set one down in front of Stan and gave him a conspiratorial wink before doling out the remaining two plates to Bev and Eddie. She smiled to Bev but the smile fell when she handed Eddie his plate. 

“I’ve got to head out. I have a showing in the morning and I need to swing by the place to make sure everything got set up right today. It was good seeing you, Bev; Stan, lovely as always.” Patty appeared from the back as well, carrying a pot of coffee with a couple of cups as Audra made her way out from behind the counter to leave. “Patty, I’ll be back to pick you up at close.” 

“Of course, darling.” Patty flushed as she fumbled for a moment with the cups. She had grabbed one for each of them and poured coffee into each of them. Stan reached over to gentle cover one of the empty ones with his hand to signal for her to leave it as he gave a soft shake of his head. 

“I think I should head out. I might have an early morning if Ember ends up going into labor. Last Ben checked, he thinks the foals still breached. I’ll see you this weekend, Pats?” Stan dug his wallet out of his pocket to leave some money on the counter for her as Patty gave him a bit of a surprised look. Bev reached over and patted Stan on the shoulder in that same comforting way she’d done to Eddie in the car. He got the sense he’d missed something but just what he couldn’t possibly imagine. 

“Of course, I have a feeling this weekend will be when we find catch sight of those eastern whip-poor-wills at last.” Patty nodded, shifting to set the fourth mug back on a rack now that they were down another. Stan gave him a small wave on his way out and Eddie waved awkwardly back. The place had cleared out now and Patty leaned against the counter across from them both. 

Eddie eyed the peach cobbler that had been set down in front of him with a bit of skepticism. It looked delicious but that was a part of the problem. It was overly bright, artificially so, and he could see the sugar granules along the flaky looking crust. He’d been on a very specific diet for several years now and this completely strayed from it. In fact, the cobbler looked like something that could cause immediate intestinal distress. He glanced at Bev as he picked up his fork to give it a try; scooped up some onto the fork and taking an exploratory bite. 

“What do you think? As good as some of those pricey pastries you’re probably used to having?”

Eddie glanced up as he heard the question and realized that both Patty and Bev were watching him. He gave a nod even as he slowly made himself work on chewing the cobbler. It was tarter than he had expected, the sugar crystals seemed to do little to beat it back and Eddie didn’t think peaches were supposed to taste this way. He had a feeling that the peaches that had been used maybe weren’t quite ripe which was at least better than if they’d been rotten. Eddie forced himself to swallow it down to be polite and gave her a smile. 

“It’s really great. Never tasted better.” 

Bev and Patty shared a conspiratorial look between them as he spoke and then they both started laughing. Patty shook her head and moved to step around the counter to start cleaning up for the night as Bev leaned over the countertop to snag a couple of packets of sugar to toss lightly at him. 

“It will help. Just give it a try.” Bev grabbed a couple more packets to dust lightly over her own cobbler as she took a sip of her coffee. 

Eddie needed to figure out how to get out of this town as fast as possible. 

*

He could already tell that the cobbler wasn’t sitting well as they drove back towards the motel in the dark. That awkwardness had faded some at the cafe when they’d been sitting and eating with Patty as she worked on closing up for the night. Now in the car, it had returned which didn’t help hide the fact that his stomach was complaining. He was going to have to drink half a bottle of pepto bismol just to try and head this off. He could only hope it didn’t somehow turn into food poisoning. 

They finally pulled up outside the motel which looked sad and empty in the dark. The vacancy sign still shining bright as the only welcoming thing. Eddie felt like it looked like the type of roadside motel you’d see in a horror movie. When they came to park outside his room, the headlights of Bev’s car illuminated the old bike leaning against the wall outside his door; clearly left there by Bev earlier. 

“I thought you might still be able to use it. I won’t be able to chauffeur you around all the time.” Eddie stared at it for a few moments before giving Bev a far from genuine smile. He had hoped they were past making digs at him but apparently not yet. It didn’t help that he felt like he was going to throw up. 

“Perfect.”  _ Fuck you.  _

He kept it back, held his tongue though he knew it slipped out in his tone. He got out of the car and started towards the door to his room as he dug to get his keys out of his pocket. He heard Bev’s car door open as well behind him and he didn’t turn around to face her. The headlight continued to help illuminate the door to his motel room as he worked to unlock it. 

“You don’t remember it, do you?” Bev came into his peripheral vision as she leaned against the wall next to him and set a hand on the seat of the bike. Eddie fumbled with the keys in his frustration, his focus shot and the fatigue of the day trying to set in on top of that anxious energy that still threatened to rise up from beneath the surface. 

“Remember what?” 

“The bike.” 

Eddie dropped the keys and gave a string of curse words as he bent to pick them back up. He glanced up at Bev expectantly as if there had to be more to the statement than that. Why would he remember some old junked bike? 

“Why the hell would I remember a fucking bike?” Eddie asked feeling completely perplexed as he stood back up and started his dance with the keys once more. Bev reached forward and snagged them away from him and nudged him out of the way so she could get the door open for him without answering the question. She was able to get the door opened quickly, pushing it so that the dark room with only one lamp near the bed turned on from earlier, and then handed him the keys back. 

“Have a good night, Mr. Kaspbrak.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and as always comments are greatly appreciated <3<3


	3. Blow Job, Hot Shot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eddie searches for his way out of Derry by getting in contact with some old friends. He finally strikes gold and goes out to celebrate.

Eddie had spent the last week calling everyone he could think of. Most everyone had given him platitudes about his situation but made a point that they felt it would ‘look bad’ if they seemed to be choosing sides. Myra had been doing her rounds apparently and most everyone had apparently decided the one who still _had_ money was the one to side with. Never mind, the only reason Myra wasn’t completely broke herself was because Eddie had given her what little was left in the divorce. 

Never mind, she continued to call him despite the fact he ignored it every single time. Eddie couldn’t go back to that. He’d taken all the debt on, paid it off with his entire life and was now left in the ruins of his father’s past. 

Well, except for the one thing Eddie wished he could get rid of now. He hadn’t really explored Derry much since that first night. He had only really made one more trip out to pick up some food to keep in the mini fridge that he still felt was dubiously clean. The whole place was dubiously clean though he had, at least, not seen any more cockroaches. 

Cockroaches. There was a small vindictive part of him that felt he’d been surrounded by more of them in his old life than he was here. Despite everything, Bev had checked in each day to make sure he didn’t need anything. Eddie pinched the bridge of his nose, gave his head a shake as he tapped at the page in his address book at the number. Todd had always been a bit much but he’d been a fairly constant presence in his life since after college. 

Eddie sighed and dialed his number. Listened to the phone ring as he glanced at the time. It was getting late and he was reaching his last hope. Who knew if Todd would even answ-

“Edward Kaspbrak! You know, I was just thinking about you.” Todd’s voice came from the other end of the line and Eddie felt a small wave of relief. “How are you doing? I heard about everything and I want you to know that I truly am deeply sorry. Who knew that your mother and Myra were so greedy? I can’t imagine what I’d do if I ended up in that sort of place. I really hope you’re taking time to breath and try to re-center yourself with the universe.” 

“It’s great to hear your voice, Todd. And I’m sorry to be callin-”

“No, don’t you dare. You are like a brother to me, brother. Honestly, if anything, I’m offended you didn’t call me sooner. How’s your old man’s hometown treating you?” 

Eddie pursed his lips, tried to bite his tongue at Todd’s interruption. Eddie was sure he didn’t mean anything by it, he’d always been that way where he’d speak over him. And they were on the phone which made it easier to step on toes. He absolutely refused to do anything that might cut off his last beacon of hope of getting out of this place. 

“Actually, that’s why I was calling. I was hoping you had something for me up there. I know you’re always looking out for the next big thing and I figure that if there was something on the horizon we could meet up. Talk about it.” 

“You know, that’s a great idea!” 

Eddie felt a small sigh of relief form in his chest. Todd’s ideas were never ones that lasted but maybe with the right guidance. Maybe with a bit of help and luck it would be something that would, at the very least, help get Eddie back on his feet somewhere that wasn’t in the middle of Bumfuck, Maine. 

“I’d love to come up there. Get a feel for the place your old man sprung from. And see you, of course! I’ve got this killer new idea that I’ve been talking about with my sensei, real chill dude, he’s been going over a lot of things with me and it’s helped me reach this sort of high level zen but I just can’t quite, you know, peak, if you get what I’m saying. Maybe being out in the middle of nowhere with some down to earth, mold and soil type people, maybe it would help give me that last little push.” 

“You want to come here?” Eddie asked with a frown, stood up from the table so he could pace across the space of his room. It didn’t escape him that Todd hadn’t exactly said that coming here would be so that Eddie could go back to New York with him. 

“Yeah! And, I mean, I’m sure you have a place I could crash being the _owner of the town_ and all. We can totally talk about you helping out with my new venture while I’m there too. Really see how we vibe together. It will be great. How does next weekend sound?” 

“That soon?” Eddie stopped, looked around the small dingy room once more and had another existential crisis. Todd would hate it. Todd said that he wanted ‘down to earth’ but the guy’s idea of being grounded typically meant going to a retreat at a five-star resort run by the whitest ‘spiritual leader’ one could find. 

Derry would be a nightmare for him. But maybe that’s what Eddie needed. Maybe Todd would see how bad it was and get him the hell out of there. 

“Yeah, I mean, unless that’s a problem?”

“Nope. No problem. None at all, I’d love to have you. Next weekend it is!” Eddie put on a smile even as he felt himself panicking. He hadn’t wanted Todd to come _here._

“Awesome, bro! It will be so nice to get away. Look, you have your people contact my people to get the details figured out and I will see you next weekend!” 

Eddie was about to remind Todd that he didn’t really have people, per say, and even when he had in the past, he had hated that way of organizing his time. Todd had already hung up though, hadn’t given him the chance to respond before the phone clicked to dead silence and Eddie was left stranded once more in a town that seemed stuck in the past. 

He was elated. There was light at the end of the tunnel far sooner than he had expected there to be.

He was also full of dread. There was a reason Todd was the last person he had called on what ended up being a much shorter list than he would have thought. 

What he really needed at that moment was a drink and not the tiny bottles he’d tried to stockpile on from the grocery store that barely contained more than a shot. 

Eddie gave a curse as he glanced at the time once more. If he wanted to get anywhere in town he’d have to plan to make the walk or ask Bev for a ride. He wasn’t sure which was worse just then but he figured that once he knew where the nearest bar or club was it’d help solve that equation. He showered and changed as quickly as he could, tried to look his best as he pulled on a pair of black designer jeans he’d ferreted away and once of his nicest polo shirts. 

He was determined he was going to have a decent night in this town. Sure, he got the distinct impression that most everyone he’d met so far hated him for the sake of hating him but that didn’t mean he couldn’t have at least a little fun. Responsible fun. The last thing he needed was to get wasted and lose his way in the woods walking back from whatever type of place was seen as suitable nightlife for this town. 

Eddie stepped outside once he felt he was ready to face going into town once more and marched towards the front office. The bike was still leaning against the door of his room, sitting like a taunt over whatever memory Bev seemed to expect it to shake loose. The lights were still on inside and the sign was still flipped to _Vacancy_ which meant that Bev hadn’t vacated the premises just yet. The time of night she left for the day seemed to vary widely dependent on some organized madness Eddie had no interest in figuring out. 

“Please tell me this blip on the map has a bar in town.” Eddie spoke as he stepped inside the office, saw Bev’s eyebrows raise up in an expression of amusement. She looked him over and grinned for a moment as she leaned against the counter, rested her chin on her hand. 

“Oh, you are in luck. There is a bar in town and I would love to go for drinks with you. I’ve gotta warn you though that there probably won’t be an appletini still.” Bev’s tone had that same hint of sarcasm that she typically seemed to carry when the two of them spoke though she seemed genuinely curious. 

“I don’t care about damn appletinis. I just need something alcoholic; I need to celebrate.” 

“Alcoholic, I can do. What exactly are we celebrating?” Bev clicked a few things on the computer screen and glanced at the time. She must not have been expecting any more guests for the night as she started to close up with the first sign of something better to do than sit there. Not that Eddie expected there to be other guests. He did wonder how she managed to keep the place afloat; why she stuck with it when it seemed like there wasn’t much in the way of business. 

“We are celebrating my chance to get the hell out of here. I’ll be out of your hair and I can finally wash this place out of mine.” Eddie gave a smile, felt that jangle of nerves under the surface. It was the best chance he had though. Bev paused for a moment as she got the computer shut down, looked up at him with a small frown beneath the fringe of copper hair that fell from her bun to frame her face. There was something that almost seemed like disappointment there for just a second before she gave shrugged and gave him a devil-may-care smile. 

“Sounds good to me. Let’s go” 

*

The bar wasn’t exactly what he had expected when they pulled up. Eddie had pictured some rundown hole in the wall with bikes lined up out front and broken glass scattered throughout the parking lot. Instead, the place looked halfway decent, had a sign noting when ‘open mic nights’ were (fortunately, the next one was a few days away) and when they stepped inside the music was down at a reasonable level and even with a decent crowd it wasn’t deafeningly loud inside. 

“Come on, we’ll sit at the bar. They serve food too but it’s all pretty much greasy bar fare.” Bev nudged him with her shoulder and started towards a section where a few empty stools sat. She’d been quiet in the car ride over, not even the typical ribbing he’d started to get used to over the last week or so. She had asked him about his way out of town, had just said it was good for him to be getting what he wanted so quickly. Eddie felt like there was an insult buried in those words but wasn’t really sure what. 

Eddie followed after her, shoved his hands in his pockets to keep from touching any of the slightly sticky looking tables until he was able to push up onto the bar stool. Looking around he saw a few familiar faces from town. Bill was over in the corner sitting with a handsome looking man who had his arms over his shoulders. When their gazes met, Bill gave him a small wave that had all the enthusiasm of a turkey at a Thanksgiving parade. 

“You’re early for a Friday night, Molly Ringwald. What are you doing here?” Eddie turned to face the bar when he heard the voice. Found the bartender had come over to them, a towel tossed over his shoulder as he gave Bev a goofy grin. 

“It just so happens we’re celebrating, Richie.” 

Eddie hadn’t realized he’d been staring until Bev motioned towards him and the bartender’s focus landed entirely on him. The smile wavered for just a moment and Eddie found himself rather hoping he’d not somehow done something to disappoint Richie before even meeting him like he seems to have done with everyone else. 

“Really, what exactly are we celebrating?” Richie asked, shifted to grab a couple of shot glasses without even waiting for an order. 

“I’m divorced.” Eddie processed what he’d just blurted out about two second after he’d said it. Bev snorted with laughter as Richie gave him a look of amusement from over the frames of his glasses as he moved to grab some amaretto and Bailey’s. “I mean, that’s one of the things we’re celebrating.” 

“Oh, well, congrat-u-fucking-lations to that then.” Richie finished filling the two shot glasses and grabbed a can of whipped cream to swirl on top of each of them before nudging one in Eddie’s direction. “Blow job?” 

“Ye-what? I’m sorry...excuse me?” 

“It’s the name of the shot,” Bev answered as Eddie felt the heat rise up in his cheeks. Richie grinned at him in a way that made Eddie certain he had purposefully been ambiguous in the offer. Bev reached between them to grab one of the shots herself, swallowing it down in one go before pushed the shot glass back in Richie’s direction. He fumbled a little to catch it before flipping her off and setting it aside. 

“Don’t do it the lame way Bevvie did. You’re supposed to do it with no hands.” Richie waggled his eyebrows at him. 

“I, um...think I’m good. Thanks though.” Eddie felt a bit disappointed and a bit embarrassed as he eyed the shot for a moment before he lifted it up swallow it down. It was sweet with that familiar sting of alcohol that hit the back of his throat as he felt a shiver run down his spine at the intensity of it. 

“We’re also apparently celebrating the fact that Eddie, here, has already found his way out of town.” 

For some reason, Eddie felt like that was a condemnation. Something less to be celebrated than to be ashamed of when Bev said it that way. She hadn’t really said it with any malice but there was a hint of that something in the root of it. Richie made an expression of understanding, smiled at Eddie once more but he could see it there too. Maybe it was a bit of disappointment or a bit of relief. 

Maybe Eddie was just wishing that Richie had been offering a little more than a drink. Just a bit of fun, nothing more. 

“Can’t say I blame you. Get out of Derry as fast as you can. You want your usual, Bev?” Richie was already moving to grab a glass to pour something he had on tap into before Bev answered in the affirmative. “What about you, Eds? What can I get for you?” 

“Do you think you can do a cosmo?” Eddie asked with doubt in his voice as he prepared to be disappointed and settle for some bitter beer. Despite the fact that this place was nicer than he’d expected, it was still a backwoods sort of bar. Looking around he could tell most of the people in the place were probably regulars. Run down like everything else he’d encountered in this place. 

“Well, gosh golly, I don’t know if I know what that is. A cos...mo? Is that what you said? Cause I just...don’t think I’ve ever heard of that.” Richie slipped into what Eddie could only describe as being reminiscent of Huckleberry Hound as he put his hands on the bar top to lean a little closer to him. The sarcasm didn’t escape him even as Richie trained an innocent, wide-eyed stare at him. 

“Says a lot about this place when the bartender can make a ‘blow job’ shot with his eyes closed but doesn’t know how to throw a bit of vodka in a glass with some fucking juice.” Eddie had to fight to keep the smile off his face as he threw that sarcasm back at him. Richie cracked into a smile of his own as he moved once more to grab some things off the shelf behind him. Eddie certainly didn’t take the chance to check out his ass. 

“Really?” Bev spoke up quietly, a brow raised at him as she made it clear she had noticed what he’d been doing. 

“I’m not taking criticism from you, pretty much ever.” Eddie muttered as he dropped his eyes back down to the bar before Richie could turn and catch him at it as well. 

“Not really a criticism, just a bit surprised is all. I’m going to heavily caution you to not though. The last thing Richie needs is someone fucking around with him then bailing.” Bev took a sip of her beer, turned on the stool to look out across the rest of the bar as she spoke to him quietly. 

“Who precisely said anything about fucking around with him? And why is it such a personal fucking affront to all of you that I may want to leave this nowhere town? I didn’t want to come here; I had no choice. You should be happy that I’m getting the hell out of here as fast as I can.” 

Eddie grumbled as he leaned back so he could look her in the face. Richie had gotten pulled into a conversation with someone a few seats down from them as he worked on making what looked to be a decent cosmopolitan for him. He glanced in Eddie’s direction again, caught his eye and gave him a smile that made Eddie mentally admit that he definitely was thinking of having a bit of fun with Richie. 

“One cosmo for the rich boy. Gotta go take care of some of the other customers but if you need anything else just let me know.” Richie stepped up to set his drink down, gave him a wink that made Eddie smile in return.

“Really, I’m not mad. I can tell Stan I won our bet now so really this first round of drinks should be on me.” Bev leaned her elbows back against the bar as she spoke once Richie had walked away. Eddie dragged his eyes away from Richie to look at her, saw the frown on her face that didn’t match the joking tone. “You know why your dad bought the town?” 

“No, I don’t. Honestly, I didn’t even know he had bought the town until it was the only thing left to my name.” Eddie couldn’t imagine what would have motivated his father to buy this town. He got that it was his hometown but Eddie wasn’t about to go buy his childhood home for kicks. “Are you all pissed cause my now-dead father bought the town?” 

“Not that he bought it, no. It’s what he did after buying it. Well, what he didn’t do, I guess. Look, no one really has a problem with you. It’s just your family...has history here that you kind of inherited. It shouldn’t matter anyway. Like you said, you found a way out of here. You won’t have to worry about it for long.” Bev’s tone softened a little and she gave him a look that was part apology. Eddie sipped at his cosmo, found that Richie was apparently a heavy-handed pourer. 

“Well, once I’m gone you can all go back to holding old grudges. All I want now is to pass the next few weeks in peace with as few crises as possible.” 

Eddie downed half the cosmo in one go, felt the burn of it chase away some of that lost, empty feeling that had dogged him all week. It about the same as the phone calls from Myra that he would continue to ignore. He set his glass down on the bar and rubbed the palms of his hands over his face. Tried to scrub away some of the fatigue he’d been doing his best to push aside. 

“How about, for tonight, we both forget about grudges or crises and just have a bit of fun? How does that sound, Kaspbrak?” Bev held her glass up to him and Eddie hesitated for a moment before he lifted his own glass up to toast with her. 

“Deal.” 

*

“Okay, so, have you ever met...Tom Cruise?” 

“Yes and he’s fucking terrifying. Met him at some holiday party; Myra loved him but he just...he’s unsettling.” Eddie gave Bev a shake of his head indicating his thoughts on that subject. He wasn’t certain by this point how they’d gotten to playing ‘Who have you met?’ but they’d been doing it for a little while now. 

Eddie also wasn’t certain how many drinks he’d had at this point. Richie was a short distance away pouring a beer from the tap and Eddie watched him for a moment over the rim of his glass as he took a drink. Bev gave a soft laugh as she leaned against him as she finished off her most recent drink. 

“Myra your wife?” 

“Ex. Ex-wife. And yeah, yeah she is.” Eddie sighed as he tried to catch Richie’s attention to get another drink for both of them. He knew he should stop, knew that he really shouldn’t be running a tab for drinks but it was nice to just be having fun. And, if things worked out right with Todd than it wouldn’t matter. 

“Right. Ex. She leave you when you lost your fortune?” Bev leaned over the bar to set her empty glass. Her tone was light, obviously teasing more than making a dig, and when she sat back she almost missed her stool. Eddie tried to help catch her, almost slid off his as well and they both broke out into laughter. 

“No, I left her. She helped my mom con me out of the money. She was also terrifying,” Eddie said jokingly as they managed to right themselves. The place was emptying out around them but he couldn’t imagine it was late enough for the place to be closing. People here must not party as late as he was used to people being out back home. Bev fell a little quiet as she looked at him and Eddie felt like he’d said too much. It had been a rule, unspoken but understood, that you didn’t _say things_ like that. You didn’t admit that you felt like you had to walk on eggshells around your spouse so you didn’t upset them. 

“Terrifying, huh? How so?” 

“Shit, I’m sorry, I don’t know why I said. She wasn’t, she isn’t fucking terrifying. She just...you had to do everything a specific way, had to do everything her way.” Eddie downed the last few dredges of this drink, not that there was much left. He tried again to get Richie’s attention and was glad when he finally caught his eye. Richie smiled at him, he had a nice smile, but he smiled at him and motioned he’d be there in a second. 

“Had a guy like that once. His way or the highway.” Bev’s tone had shifted a little and Eddie looked at her. Met her eyes and saw something he recognized there; some part of himself. 

“He leave you when you lost all your money?” Eddie tried for humor and felt a bit of relief when Bev’s weary expression split into a smile. 

“Ha! No, no...I left his ass. And now he’s not allowed within five hundred feet of me.” 

“Well, now I know you two have had too much. Anytime he-who-must-not-be-named comes up it usually means it’s time to call it a night.” Richie came over to lean against the bar across from them. He gave Bev a questioning look, almost as if he was checking in with her.

Eddie was, quite honestly, busy noticing how broad his shoulders were. 

“I’m just telling Eddie here that I can relate to having a bitch of an ex.” Bev reached to pat Richie reassuringly on the cheek before. “Is it closing time, barkeep?” 

“It is. And by the looks of it you two have already finished your whiskey and beer. However, I don’t think either of you should be driving.” Richie held his hand out in Bev’s direction and she sighed but dug her car keys out of her pocket. She dangled them over his hand for a moment before letting them drip and Richie closed his hand around them and rapped his knuckles against the top of the bar for a second. “Give me just a little bit longer so we can get everything closed out and then I’ll escort you both back home.” 

“Didn’t realize that offer was on the table.” Eddie hadn’t meant to say that part out loud. 

Eddie had clearly drunk more than he should have. 

“Full-service bar, Mr. Kaspbrak. Happy to be of service.” Richie gave him a wink as he gathered up their glasses to take back with the rest. The few other employees worked on getting the place cleaned up as Eddie wondered if he was going to be lucky or not. Except, Eddie distinctly recalled the fact that Bev had told him _not_ to fuck around with Richie. 

God, he wanted to fuck around with Richie. 

“Nuh-uh.” Bev spoke up beside him and Eddie glanced in her direction. Realized he’d been caught staring at Richie and he felt a bit of a defensive anger rise up. “Off limits.”

“Does he know you’re his chastity belt?” Eddie asked, maybe only half joking. Maybe he was a little tired of being told what he could and couldn’t do. Maybe, right at that moment, it sounded like a good idea to take Richie back to the dump of a motel room to make things a little more bearable. Maybe it had been a long time since Eddie had allowed himself to acknowledge his attraction to guys. 

“Richie can do what he wants and who he wants. He’s just...something with a pre-determined expiration date on it isn’t what he needs right now. And, by the sounds of it, you don’t need the complication either. Take it as friendly advice.” Bev gave a shrug and reached over to pat him on the side of the face like she’d done to Richie just before. It felt like an attempt to provide comfort, seemed like a natural attempt to show affection on her part. 

“Alright, andale, you two losers, let’s get you home. Designated Driver at your service.” Richie called out to them from the opposite side of the bar where some of the others were clearly getting ready to head out. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and as always; comments are appreciated <3<3


	4. Coming Up Cold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eddie wakes up in an unfamiliar place but has the first morning he really could claim to feel content. That is until he finds there's no hot water at the motel and he gets an offer from Mike, Bill's husband, to come over to use theirs instead.

Eddie’s head was pounding and the light coming in through the window was entirely too bright even through the haze of the white curtains that hung over them. White curtains that looked like they had small pink flamingos printed on them like they belong in a kid’s room. He startled as he realized he wasn’t in the motel room and sat up quickly. He regretted it instantly. 

It had been a long time since Eddie had drunk enough to have an honest to God hangover but he definitely had one then. He pressed the palms of his hands against his closed eyelids as he tried to focus. Where exactly was he? Who had he gone home with? Was he wearing clothes?

“Hey there, Eduardo, about time you go up. I made you my patent hangover remedy. If you hear a string of curses from the living room in a few moments you’ll know Bev finally downed hers.” 

Eddie peeked out from between his hands and saw Richie. Richie who was definitely in boxers and a white-T that hugged against him like it was a little too small for that broad chest. Eddie’s insides flipped in an entirely different way than they had been a moment before and he hoped he didn’t look as miserable as he felt. 

“Where are we?” Eddie forced himself to sit up; once more tried to gauge his own clothes situation and found that he was fully dressed aside from his shoes had been lost at some point the night before. 

“My place. You two were pretty far gone last night, which was amusing as hell, but Bev somehow lost her house keys in her purse and you apparently couldn’t remember which room was yours. This seemed easier if I didn’t want to be out trying to break down motel room doors all night.” Richie plopped onto the bed beside him and God his thighs. 

“Did we…?” Eddie took the glass that Richie offered him with a suspicious look. It looked disgusting but at the same time it looked like one of the health drinks he’d had numerous times over the year. You didn’t ask what was in those either. He decided to go for it with the hopes that he wasn’t about to get poisoned by a stranger who definitely could crush his head between his thighs and Eddie would say thank you. 

It was bitter with the hint of fermentation that spoke of alcohol. There was also a sort of slimy texture that made Eddie feel like gagging but he forced himself to swallow. It oddly tasted like a sour apple drink that had been allowed to just sit out for too long and started to congeal. 

“Did we what? Fuck?” 

Eddie nearly choked as Richie asked and he had to fight to keep from spitting the drink out onto his sheets. Richie started to laugh as Eddie glared at him; realized that he had done it intentionally in the middle of him drinking whatever the hell was in the glass. 

“Don’t worry. We didn’t, though I’ll be honest you were a bit handsy when I was trying to corral you inside. Also, you and Bev have terrible ‘quiet voices’ when you’re completely drunk. I heard you arguing whether or not you should be allowed to sleep with me in the car.” Richie messed with his hair before standing up and Eddie let himself admire the view for a second as he finally managed to stop sputtering. 

“God, I’m sorry. I got a lot more wasted than I had intended to. It’s been...it’s been a while.” Eddie frowned down at the glass and carefully finished off the last of the liquid that was inside of it. Bev must have been doing the same because he could hear her protests about the taste of it from somewhere outside the bedroom door. 

“Since you drank or since you had sex?” Richie at least waited for him to be finished this time before he asked the question and Eddie lifted a finger in his direction in response to the smirk on his face. 

“Drank. That much at least.” Sex too. Eddie didn’t really want to admit that right then. Not when Richie was leaning against the doorframe looking like that. He sort of wished he was drunk all over again because then he might feel confident enough to try and talk him into a quick test run right then. Eddie wasn’t entirely certain where his libido had been hiding for the last, oh, half of his life but it apparently had reawakened at the sight of Richie. 

“Well, just know, when you do you start getting real friendly with the locals. Don’t worry though, I’m not one for messing around with sloppy bitches. When you’re ready, feel free to get up. I’m getting the only thing I know how to cook ready for breakfast and then I can take you two losers back.” 

Eddie felt...offended as he gave Richie the finger once more as he turned to walk out. That offense immediately turned to that sick feeling of infatuation again when Richie winked at him before disappearing from the room. Actually, the sick feeling was an honest sick feeling and Eddie groaned as he closed his eyes again and tried to keep it down while the room spun slightly. 

By the time Eddie felt like he could stumble out of the bedroom to find himself immediately in the small living room space of a semi-grunging but overall well kept apartment, Bev and Richie were sitting at the kitchen bar talking in low voices together. Eddie didn’t know if he should interrupt them or not though the pancakes that were stacked up on a plate between them honestly smelled amazing despite that semi-queasy feeling lingering in his gut. 

It would have been about now that Myra would be freaking out about him having made himself sick. That he had gotten alcohol poisoning or been drugged or some sort of reason for her to be upset about him having gone out for a drink with some friends. The fact that he was actually hungover and not just a bit fuzzy headed from the limited alcohol he ever drank while they had been together would have likely ended with her dragging him to the hospital to get his stomach pumped. 

Instead, Richie caught sight of him and motioned for him to come over and join them. Bev glanced over her shoulder and gave him a weak little smile that said she was suffering the same fate he was that morning. Eddie shuffled over to them and sat down in the chair Richie offered to him and ate pancakes while listening to the two of them talk about some festival coming up next month in town. 

Eddie found a small part of himself wishing he’d be here for it while he listened to them and ate his pancakes.

*

Richie had dropped them both off at the motel with the promise to Bev that he’d come by to take her to her car at the bar later. He waved at them both as he drove away and Eddie wished the damn sun wasn’t so bright. Bev seemed to feel the same way as she gave a groan and started towards the office door. 

“What if-”

“No, I told you. Off limits. I’ll hate you forever if you fuck around with Richie.” Bev cut him off before he had the chance to even say what he was thinking. Eddie frowned at her as he started to follow her towards the motel office. 

“You already hate me.” 

“You’re right, I hate you right now in this moment because I’m hungover and you’re determined to hurt my best friend. I’ll hate you forever if you actually do it though.” Bev turned to give him a pointed look or at least as pointed as she could manage since the sun had become five times brighter than normal. 

“Hey, there you are, Bev!” Both of them stopped to turn and look at the guy who was approaching them from the side of the motel. He had a tool belt on and no shirt and Eddie was starting to wonder just what was in the water in this damn town. This guy looked like he’d climbed out of one of those Ralph Lauren Polo ads. 

“What about-”

“Absolutely not.” Bev muttered this under her breath before she smiled brightly at the man. He smiled in return and Eddie understood that this one was off limits for completely different reasons than Richie. “Hey Ben, I didn’t think you were coming by until tomorrow to work on the gutter install.” 

“Oh, I ended up having some free time today. Where were you? I was surprised to find the office still locked up for the morning when I got here.” Eddie saw Ben glance back at him with a soft confusion but he didn’t seem put off by the fact that he was arriving with Bev. 

“Yeah, had a little more than I planned last night and ended up crashing at Richie’s.” Ben came to a stop in front of them and Bev smiled at him some more. For a long time as Ben smiled back with a genuine side of shy country boy. 

“I’m Eddie, by the way. I don’t think we’ve met yet.” Eddie gave a wave and both of them seemed to startle out of their shared daydream. 

“Hey, no, haven’t had the pleasure. You’re the owner of the town, right? I think Bill and Mike mentioned you were here now.” Ben offered him his hand and gave it a firm shake. Eddie gave a tight lipped smile at the mention of Bill as he moved to sidestep around Bev. 

“I guess I am. I’m going to head in, Bev, so you can get to work.” Eddie moved to escape to his room as Bev gave a soft laugh that definitely wasn’t flirty as she leaned a little closer to Ben. He could hardly handle the awkward overly long eye contact that the two of them were maintaining.

It was actually a relief when Eddie stepped back into his motel room. Dingy and absolutely disgusting as it; there was a sense of familiarity and solitude that he appreciated. Especially the fact that the curtains made the place dark enough the pounding in his temple eased off some. Richie’s “Hangover Remedy” had taken the worst of the edge off even if Eddie was suspicious of the fact he wouldn’t share the recipe. 

Eddie carefully removed his shoes and stripped out of his clothes with the intent of standing in the shower under the hot water for as long as it would last. He turned on the water and turned the knob towards the hot water and waited. As he did, he looked at himself in the mirror and tried not to pick apart the way he looked just then. He had dark circles under his eyes and he could tell he was dehydrated. He’d need to make sure he got caught back up on his water and he probably could use a fruit detox. 

He wondered if there was anywhere to get a food fruit blend smoothie, maybe a bit of wheatgrass, in town and then remembered where he was. It’d be a miracle if Derry had anything like that given what he’d seen so far. Eddie sighed and more back into the room, found his toiletry bag and opened it to pull out the lotions and cleansers he had stashed. That was one thing he wasn’t quite willing to shake. He had done his best to cut back on all the pills that he’d taken since he was young at his mother’s behest. 

Skin care wasn’t a sin though. Especially when he did his best to always use all natural shit. 

Eddie got his stuff set up carefully on the sink counter with a frown as it didn’t quite fit without looking like a mess. He took a deep breath and tried to remind himself that it was temporary; that he wouldn’t have to be there for much longer. He had about nine days before Todd would show up and be his ticket out of this place and back to sterile environments. 

He ran his hands through his hair as he pulled back the curtain and checked the water on the show only to pull back quickly with a curse at how cold it had been. He checked that he’d turned it to the right setting, cranked it fully to the ‘hot’ setting and waited only to be entirely certain that it somehow managed to get even colder. Eddie squeezed his eyes shut tightly, pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to keep that pounding from getting louder again before he marched back out to the main room. 

He pulled on his sweats and some sandals so he could go talk to Bev and get her to fix this. He felt like he needed to be decontaminated after the night of drinking but he wasn’t desperate enough to get hypothermia to do so. 

Eddie stepped out of his room and immediately saw Ben a few rooms down starting up a ladder. He smiled and waved, that same good natured smile, and Eddie immediately felt self conscious as he turned on his heel and started towards the office. He walked past the car that sat in the parking lot outside the motel office and pushed the door open grateful to get back out of the sun. 

“There’s no hot water.” Eddie said it only to stop as he realized that Bev wasn’t alone. A bookish but strong looking man stood at the counter talking to her and he turned to give him an amused sort of look. Eddie wished he’d taken time to pull on a shirt of some sort. He just hadn’t expected to be giving half the town a look at his chest with the ‘No Dice’ tattoo across it and the ones on his shoulders. 

“Did you feel the need to compete with Ben cause, I’ve gotta say, it’s no contest.” Bev pressed her lips together in a clear attempt to keep from laughing. Eddie did his best to suppress the desire to flip her off just then given the fact that he was being watched like he was amusing by the other...guest or whoever the guy was. 

“Nice tattoos.” The guy made the comment and Eddie felt himself flush a little as he chose to ignore the comment. He marched up to the desk so he could talk with Bev face to face. She gave him a small smirk but she managed to keep whatever jab she clearly wanted to make inside. 

“There’s no hot water. Everything is freezing cold and I need to shower. Is there something you can do or someone you can call about this?” He did his best to keep his voice down but he felt a little more exposed than he had intended. So much for a small town shit motel that, as far as he had known, had no other guests. 

“It’s probably the hot water heater. I’ve had some trouble with it. I’ll mention it to Ben and he can take a look at it before he leaves today. If you want, it’s warm outside and you’re clearly comfortable with your shirt off, you could always use the hose to freshen up?” Bev set her chin in her hand as she smiled at him and Eddie rolled his eyes. 

“I could always call Richie and ask to use his shower.” Eddie quipped back and Bev narrowed her eyes at him. He gave her a smile but the thought of calling Richie to ask if he could shower at his place made him entirely too anxious. Especially now that he was realizing this town was full of entirely too many beautiful people given the fact it was podunk nowhere. Any flirting he felt that Richie might have been doing likely had just been drunken misunderstanding at this point with the likes of Ralph Lauren outside and Old Spice guy who watched them with mild amusement. 

“If you want, you can come back to our house and take a shower there? I’m sure Bill wouldn’t mind.” 

“I’m sorry, who the fuck are you?” Eddie shook his head as he looked at the guy who held his hand out in greeting. 

“Name’s Mike. I’m Bill’s husband.” Eddie glanced at Bev who fluttered her lashes at him as he shook Mike’s hand. 

“Bill the mayor?” Eddie asked, feeling a bit of dread. Of course he’d piss off the mayor’s husband. Mike didn’t seem all that mad though as he gave Eddie a smile and a firm shake. 

“Yep, that’s my man. We don’t live far and I’ll be heading back there in just a few minutes. If you’d like you’re more than welcome to pack a bag so you can shower at our place. You can join us for lunch too; the town council meets up once a week and today’s the lucky day. You can meet anyone you’ve not had the pleasure of meeting yet.” 

“That is...a wonderful idea, Mikey. I think there’s a few others that Eddie hasn’t met yet and that would be the perfect time for him to do so.” Bev sounded excited as she spoke up, standing up a bit straighter as if she was prepared to make Eddie go with him. 

“Yeah, I guess I can do that. Thanks.” 

He could do this. Eddie could go with this complete stranger, shower in his house that happens to be the house of the mayor who hates him and then go meet whatever chumps were on the town council. He was leaving soon but for now he could play the game for now if it meant he might be able to actually feel clean again. 

“We should head out then. Bev, I’ll get back to you if I find any information on the historical association. Can we expect to see you at dinner tomorrow night?” 

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Bev gave a wave to Mike as he moved to start towards the door. Eddie resisted the urge to flip her off when she mouthed _‘You’re doing great, sweetie’_ at him. 

“Come on, I’m in the truck outside. Grab what you need and we can get going.” Mike tapped him lightly on the shoulder and Eddie put on a smile as he turned to follow him out of the office. 

*

“So, I heard you found a way out of town already.” They had driven in silence for a while until they’d reached the edge of town. Mike spoke up now though and Eddie blinked as he looked at him for a second. 

“How would you even know that already?” 

“It’s a small town. Plus, I stopped by the bar last night. Happened to hear Bev cheer you with the phrase ‘The asshole’s leaving town!’ before you both did a couple of shots. It seemed like a pretty good indication.” Mike gave him a shrug as he turned down one of the side streets that took them in a direction Eddie didn’t recognize. 

“Yeah, well, you all won’t have to worry about me for too much longer. You can all throw a parade when I’m gone.” Eddie huffed a little, tired of being reminded just how unwelcomed he was here. Stupid little town. It would be good riddance when he finally got to leave with Todd. 

“I think it’s a shame, to be honest. I thought maybe you’d come back, remember the place a bit and maybe decide to stay. Do what your dad didn’t manage to do for this place. I guess Derry just doesn’t have all the allure of some of the big cities though.” Mike frowned, gave a sigh as he stared out the windshield. Eddie looked at him for a few moments in surprise, wondered if maybe he’d found someone willing to give him some insight into the specific brand of crazy that this town cultivated. 

“What exactly did my dad fail to do? I’ve heard people mention it but honestly, I have no fucking idea why he even bought the town other than nostalgia. He never really mentioned it when I was older and though I very vaguely recall that we came here a couple of times when I was younger that’s it.” Eddie shifted in his seat so he could face Mike a little bit more as they stopped to let a small group cross the road. 

“I wondered about that. Some of the others figured you’d remember but I think Derry can be an easy place to forget sometimes. You did come visit with your dad quite a few times when you were younger. You were here a few summers from what I understand and used to ride around with Bill, Bev and Stan. You don’t remember any of that?” Mike raised an eyebrow at him but there wasn’t necessarily any antagonism in the look. 

“No, I guess I don’t.” Eddie frowned as he tried to wrack his brain for the memories. That would have been before his dad got sick; before his mom really locked down on him doing anything she might deem dangerous. “What about my dad though?” 

He could tell immediately by the look on Mike’s face that he wasn’t going to tell him. He almost winced at it and gave a soft shake of his head. Eddie felt a strange relief at this despite that curious need to know. 

“That’s a little more complicated. In short, he bought the town with the promise to help it recover from some bad years and then never followed through. Basically washed his hands of the place. If you’re planning on leaving then the details don’t really matter. Either way, it’s unfair that they’ve been a bit harsh on you though you seem to have gotten Bev to warm up some.” 

Eddie wanted to ask more but just then they pulled up to a house where he could immediately see Bill on the front porch talking on the phone. He saw the smile on his face blossom as he saw Mike but it immediately fell the second he realized Eddie was in the truck with him. Eddie hoped that a hot shower was worth getting killed by Bill Denbrough. 

*

“I appreciate you letting me come and use your shower.” Eddie felt a lot more himself now that he’d stood under the hot water for at least thirty minutes. He had wanted to stand there even longer but he had gotten the distinct impression that Bill wasn’t happy to see him. When he’d gotten out and dressed once more, the house had seemed almost empty until he’d found Bill in what was clearly an office. Mike’s truck was gone from out front and Eddie got the distinct sense he might have caused some trouble.

“Of course, why not? I’ve got to head out to meet with the town council. Mike said you were going to come along?” Bill was sorting through a small stack of paperwork. 

“Apparently it’s good for me to meet the rest of the town.” Eddie said a little exasperated. Bill looked up at him a bit critically and for a moment Eddie felt like he could have remembered him. It was like he could picture a younger version of him. 

“Doesn’t really matter since you’re leaving b-but I guess it doesn’t hurt. Give me a few moments, I’ve got to make sure I have everything and then we’ll go so we’re not late. Mike had to run by the library first so he’s going to meet us there.” 

“Sounds good, Big Bill.” Eddie said it without thought and Bill stopped to stare at him for a moment with a different sort of expression on his face. It was almost softer, less of a glare and more of a sadness but he just shook his head and stepped out Eddie to move out into the living room. 

The house was small but it also felt like a home in a way Eddie never felt his house had. There were books everywhere, history books and ones covering old urban legends. There was one small collection neatly stored together on their own shelf and Eddie glanced towards them as he moved to stay out of the way. The spines of the books all had Bill’s name written on them beneath various titles that seemed to tie together into a series somehow. 

“Didn’t realize you’re a writer.” Eddie read a few of the titles on the books; realized most of them were likely horror just from what he gathered from the names. _Night of the Blood Moon. Missing at Dawn. Death on Dreary Lane._

“That’s not s-surprising. All of my endings are apparently shit.” Bill waved a dismissive hand as he tucked some of the paperwork into a small briefcase that looked like it had seen better days. Quite a bit in the house looked like it had seen better days. Eddie stopped as he read one of the titles and realized he recognized the name. 

_Devil Above. Devil Below._

“Hey, I read this one a few years ago. I thought it was really good except…” Eddie trailed off as he realized he was about to say that the ending sucked. When he glanced over his shoulder Bill was watching him; almost looked like he was daring him to finish the sentence. “It was great. Ending was, um, on point.” 

“You’re really b-bad at bull shitting, you know.” Bill actually laughed a little as he said it; a smile that lit up his face in a way that made him almost look like a completely different person. Eddie felt a weird little sense of pride at the fact he’d made Bill smile. “Let’s go; the rest of the group gets impatient if I’m running late.” 

“What got you started on writing?” Eddie followed Bill out of the house and tried to figure out how to keep them on a topic that wouldn’t get dark brooding Bill back. They moved to a small car that was parked alongside of the house, Bill opening the rear door to toss the briefcase in as Eddie moved to the passenger side. 

“Started when I was young. Originally it was a way to write out how I was feeling about things. Something my therapist recommended. As I got older, it just felt like a natural fit for creativity.” Eddie climbed into the car as he listened to Bill talk; felt a little surprised by the sudden willingness to discuss things. He had apparently found Bill’s sweet spot with the question about writing. 

“I thought ‘Devil Above. Devil Below’ got on the bestseller list when it came out? Obviously you’ve got talent.” Eddie had kicked into business mode; the skills that had made him manage to carry on his father’s business as well as make his own. The only difference was he was genuinely curious about this compared to all the blow hard self-absorbed bullshit he’d put up with over the years. 

“Yeah, it was but barely. Thought it was going to get me somewhere for a while too but, like you stopped yourself from saying, the ending sucked. After that first week it faded away again. Honestly, I think it was for the better. I write books that sell maybe a few hundred here and there but if it had turned into something big it would have been too much pressure.” Bill backed out onto the street as he spoke, a light frown of concentration on his face. Eddie couldn’t really understand that but his mother had always pushed that he should be striving for more. More money, more prestige. 

Afterall, they were the Kaspbraks. People should respect them. 

“Never thought of leaving Derry?” Bill glanced at him and seemed to realize he was talking with Eddie again. Some of the gentle humor faded from his expression as he gunned it down the road at a speed that he seemed accustomed to. 

“Everyone wants to leave D-Derry at some point in their life. Some of us just realize the importance of staying close to home. Besides, if I had left I wouldn’t have ended up married to Mike. That I wouldn’t trade for anything. He’s the love of my life.” 

Eddie wondered what that was like; knowing you had someone who matter more than anything else. Even when things had been even vaguely good with him and Myra he’d never felt like she was the best thing going in his life. She was another controlling force, another obligation. He didn’t think he could say he really knew what being in love was like. 

Bill suddenly turned and pulled into a parking lot of a small building that had ‘Community Center’ written on the sign above the door. He parked next to Mike’s truck that was already waiting with a handful of other cars and turned the car off. 

“Wait? We’re here already?” 

“Small town. Normally I wouldn’t drive but I was running late since I had to wait on you. Come on.” Bill popped out of the car, opened the back door to retrieve his briefcase and started towards the door. Eddie rolled his eyes a little as he pushed out of the car and trailed after him reluctantly. He didn’t really want to be here; wondered just how many people were going to be there. If it was the city council wouldn’t that mean a crowd? 

Bill didn’t bother holding the door open for him so it conveniently swung closed right as he reached it. Eddie grumbled to himself a bit as he pulled it back open and stepped inside to find a small open space with a circle of chairs. There were less than ten people in the room who all stopped to look at him when he stepped in. 

Bill was moving to the front half of the room where Mike was waiting for him. Next to them, Stan sat and gave Eddie a small wave with that same friendly but slightly melancholy expression. Audra saw him come in and immediately moved to sit down next to Stan as if she was claiming his company for herself. There were three people sitting down and talking amongst themselves that Eddie hadn’t met before. He gave an uncertain smile, didn’t know whether he should take a seat or not. 

He started when he felt hands rest on his shoulders from behind; the door had swung open once more and a familiar voice spoke up close to his ear. 

“Kind of like showing up to prom without a date, huh?” Richie’s voice was low and teasing when he spoke and Eddie felt a chill run down his spine and a warmth pool in his gut. It was chased quickly by a relief at the knowledge that not everyone there was going to hate him as Richie slipped an arm around his shoulders and started leading him further into the room. 

“I’m pretty sure that Bill’s plotting my murder.” Eddie mumbled it under his breath as Richie waved at people with a wide smile. They reached a couple of empty chairs next to Stan and Audra and Richie sat down. Eddie followed suit simply out of any other presentable option being available. 

“Nah, Bill wouldn’t hurt a fly. He writes all his violent tendencies out on the page. Stan’s the one you have to watch out for,” Richie said as he leaned to shove Stan’s knee lightly. Stan hardly bothered to look up at them from his phone but he did raise a finger in Richie’s direction. A second later, Richie’s phone chimed in his pocket and he very clearly made a point of ignoring it. 

“So, who all do you know?” Richie put his arm around his shoulders again and Eddie hoped that his emotions didn’t show too clearly on his face. 

“I met Mike a little earlier today; got threatened by Bill when I first arrived. Audra hates me and Stan...is indifferent as far as I can tell. The other three, I don’t know.” Eddie kept his voice low in an attempt to keep the others from hearing him. 

“I don’t hate you,” Audra said cooly as she glanced up at him having clearly heard his comment. “I dislike what your family stands for in this town.” 

“I wouldn’t say I’m indifferent either,” Stan spoke up as he tucked his cell phone into the pocket of his jacket. 

“Don’t worry. That means he likes you. Stan just doesn’t like showing affection. He’s allergic to it,” Richie said conspiratorially as he leaned in close to Eddie and pointed at the other three that Eddie didn’t know. “That’s Don, he’s great and works with the local theater group a lot. That’s Andy, he teaches at the school. And the beautiful lady who can definitely kick your ass is Carla. She works at the police department. Basically the chief of police in everything but the actual title.” 

“That’s because Bowers is a lazy asshole. It’s nice to meet you, Eddie, don’t break any laws, please. And watch out for Tozier, he’s trouble.” 

“You break my heart, Carla. One of these days I’m going to woo you onto my side. The crimes we’ll commit.” Richie acted dramatically, pressed a hand over his heart as if it was too much for him to take as Carla rolled her eyes and laughed in a way that was more than just a little bit of a giggle. 

“Alright, everyone. Should we get started?” Bill sat down with his long legs stretched out in front of him. Mike took the seat beside him seeming to signal that they were all there despite the empty seats in the circle. “We know some of us are stuck at work but I’ve talked with the others about their opinions on the ticket items for this month. Anyone got anything they want to contribute?” 

“Can we ban clowns from the festival this year? Their weird little eyes just freak me out?” Richie raised his hand and spoke at the same time. Eddie watched Stan roll his eyes and Bill cracked another smile as he shook his head. 

“All in favor of banning clowns once again from the festival this year, say aye!” 

There was a chorus of ‘ayes’ from everyone with some laughs mixed in before Bill called for anyone opposed to speak up. There was silence that followed and after a moment Eddie felt Richie nudge him to get his attention. Bill was looking at him expectantly as if he thought Eddie was wanting to vote. 

“Oh, my opinion doesn’t matter. I don’t think I’ll be here long enough,” Eddie shook his head, felt his face get a bit hot as everyone looked at him. 

“You’re currently a part of the council, Mr. Kaspbrak, you get a say. How do you vote?” Bill gave him a tight lipped smile and Eddie got the sense he was being fucked with. Not that that would be surprising at this point. 

“Then aye. I fucking hate clowns.” 

“Language, please. But, that makes it unanimous. No clowns at festival again. Anything else?” Bill looked around but no one else seemed to have any suggestions. “Then we should be good on that; everyone knows their role in the weeks moving forward. Next item on the list; what do we do about Paul Bunyan? Ben has offered to give him a new coat of paint. I think that’s probably the best option cost wise but we will want to make sure he has the proper equipment. Anyone opposed to this?” 

“Honestly, if it means we get to watch Ben paint that statue in town center in the heat of summer, I’m all for it.” Carla said with a smirk on her face. Don made a noise of agreement as Bill gave a soft laugh. 

“I’ll take that as approval to move forward. And I’ll let Ben know you’re looking forward to seeing his work especially, Carla. Alright...well, that’s it then. Thank you guys for coming.” 

“Wait, that’s it? That’s the whole town meeting?” 

“City council meeting. Town meeting isn’t until next week,” Mike said helpfully. Eddie looked around at them wondering why you would even have a meeting if this was all it consisted of. 

“Is there a problem with our council meeting, Mr. Kaspbrak? As the owner of the town, you can always speak up if you feel we need to change anything or add something to the docket?” Bill gave him a smile that seemed a lot less like his friendly grin and a lot more like he was thinking of legitimately biting him. 

“I’d say no. Bill can drag these things out for hours if he wants to and that’s just going to make anyone in the room who didn’t already hate you definitely decide they do now.” Richie whispered it to him and Eddie closed his mouth to swallow down the defensive words that had been on the tip of his tongue. 

“No, I just was surprised by how efficiently you all handle everything.” Eddie felt like he was going to choke on the words but he saw Bill relax a little. He doubted that it was because he’d bought the soothing words Eddie had fed him. Instead, Mike’s steady hand and a few whispered words in his ear seemed to be the thing that did it. 

“Alright, then meeting is adjourned.” Eddie didn’t know what Mike had said to Bill but he was aware that Bill stared at him with a slightly perplexed look on his face for a few seconds afterwards. Even as the others all started to talk and move to get up he could see him staring out of the corner of his eye before Stan finally caught his attention to pull him into a conversation. 

“Hey, you want a ride back to the motel? I’m assuming you know which room you’re in this time.” Richie stood up and Eddie was struck once more by just how tall he was. It didn’t help that he was currently sitting which planted him at crotch height. Eddie stood up quickly to keep his thoughts from straying too far only to end up standing entirely too close to Richie.

“Yeah, sure. If you have time that’d be great.” 

“I’ve gotta head that way anyway so I can take Bevvie back to her car. You, maybe, wanna do linner on the way?” Richie took a step back but only one which still left them close to each other. 

“Richie, don’t forget about tomorrow night. We’ll need some help setting things up if you get a chance.” Audra paused next to them to place a hand on Richie’s arm as she interrupted them. 

“Don’t you worry. I’ll be there with bells on.” Richie leaned to press a quick kiss on her cheek as he answered. “Tell Patty Cakes hi for me. Tell her I miss her face.” 

“You leave my girl alone, Tozier.” Audra said it jokingly as she kissed his cheek in return. She glanced in Eddie’s direction with a pointed look but at least didn’t say anything to him. 

“So, yeah, linner? Wanna do it?”

“What the hell is linner?” Eddie gave him a frown, instinctively moved with Richie when he started to wander towards the door. 

“Late lunch; early dinner. Linner. I know a great little place we could go before I drop you off.” Richie opened the door for him and then continued to hold it open as the others filed out of the building. Eddie tucked himself back out of the way so everyone could pass by. 

“That’s a ridiculous fucking name for it but, yeah, sure. I’ve been to the cafe already though if you thought you were showing me a new treat.” Eddie felt like this was a date but he had no real confidence in that determination just then. He felt less certain about things than he had in a long time. 

“Oh, I’m not talking about the cafe, my sweet summer Eddie.” 

“Eddie, you need a ride back?” Mike called out from over by his truck where he was standing with Bill. Bill seemed to be avoiding looking at him with what could almost be a guilty expression on his face. Good, Eddie hoped that Mike had made him feel especially bad for putting him on the spot. 

“No, I’m good. I’m going to grab ‘linner’ with Richie.” 

Richie lit up with a grin at him and Eddie felt like he might just risk Bev hating him for forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and, as always, all comments are appreciated. <3


	5. A Kiss From a Rose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eddie and Richie have their 'linner'. Eddie and Bev have a confrontation.

“Are you ready to have the best egg rolls you’ve ever tasted?” Richie had pulled up to a small building that had ‘Jade of the Orient’ lit up in green above the entrance. It hardly even looked like a restaurant from the outside and Eddie did his best to smile while trying to figure out what would be the safest dish to order. He had high doubts that these would be the best egg rolls he’d ever tasted just because of where they were. 

“Yeah, looking forward to it.” Eddie opened the passenger side door as Richie moved to get out as well. He heard him laugh and knew he hadn’t exactly kept the disdain out of his voice. 

“Don’t worry. It’s actually good, I promise. I mean, I can’t speak for your delicate constitution but the Jade is a renown treat here in Derry.” Eddie’s attention was pulled away from his scrutiny of the restaurant to Richie when he stepped around the end of the car to stop in front of him. God, he was big. And broad. Eddie tried to get his mind back on track though he was incredibly tempted to ask Richie if he just wanted to go back to his place. 

As he looked at Richie’s warm smile with humor in his eyes, he wondered just what his response would be if Eddie asked him just that. Did it really matter when he would be leaving? Richie knew that, knew that whatever happened would be just a bit of fun before he was gone again. Something Eddie could look back on that might actually make Derry not the abysmal memory it would be otherwise. 

“I-” Eddie stepped a little closer to Richie and he saw a small falter in that smile. There was a flicker of something in that expression that made Eddie stop himself. There was a vulnerability there that thrust a small wedge of doubt in the back of his mind. “I don’t have a delicate fucking constitution. I just prefer not to get food poisoning. Risking the diner was bad enough.” 

“It’s not food poisoning just because your digestive tract has gotten used to having everything dusted with gold filigree, Eds.” The grin returned to Richie’s face as he stepped aside to motion for Eddie to take the lead. Eddie felt a bit of disappointment as he started towards the restaurant. 

“Why the fuck would I be eating gold filigree?” 

“Isn’t that what all you rich people do? Add gold flakes to your food just cause you can?” Richie fell in step with him, that momentary sense of tension between them quickly relaxing again. Eddie pulled the door of the restaurant open and held it for Richie so he could walk inside first. 

“That’d be an absolute fucking waste and I don’t even want to think about what it would do to your insides if you ate enough of it.” 

Richie motioned to the woman behind the hostess podium that there were two of them. She gave him a warm and familiar smile as she grabbed a couple of menus and led them to their table. The place wasn’t that busy, like due to the time of day, but it had a dimly lit and intimate feel inside that likely wasn’t broken even when it was full. They got seated in a booth near the back, Eddie sitting down across from Richie as they both ordered something to drink before the hostess walked away. 

“I was surprised to see you at the city council meeting. What the hell made you want to sit there when you should be packing for when you get rescued from this place?” Richie gave him a questioning look from over his menu and Eddie was starting to wonder himself. Sure, the shower had been a blessing but he wasn’t sure it was worth everything he’d dealt with to get the chance to take it. And now that his own fucking guilty conscious was keeping him from taking Richie back to his place to work up to needing another one, it really wasn’t worth it. 

“Honestly, the hot water was busted at the motel and I somehow ended up getting invited back to Mike and Bill’s place to use theirs at the cost of attending that joke of a fucking meeting. Like, why even bother with it? Some inconsequential little festival to keep the masses amused for a week or whatever?” 

“Today’s meeting was pretty short but for the most part we keep things running. And I’d be careful bad-mouthing Derry Days. It is a time-honored tradition here and even those of us who think it's a bit ridiculous will defend it with our lives.” Richie gave him a pointed look before tilting his head off to the side. Eddie glanced in that direction and found an older couple glaring back at him. 

“I’m sure it’s just golly gee fucking wonderful.” Eddie muttered, leaning over the table closer to Richie so he could speak in a whisper. And maybe so he could just be closer to Richie. 

He was pleasantly taken by surprise when Richie leaned in closer too; their faces just inches apart. Eddie acted on instinct, or maybe it was against his better judgement, either way he acted on it as he caught Richie’s lips in a kiss. There were a few moments where he felt Richie part his lips, move into it as Eddie felt far more nerves flutter about in his chest than he should have. So what if it was his first kiss since leaving Myra? He shouldn’t be feeling that longing muddled with guilt just from kissing some guy he’d never see again after he left.

Richie pulled back first; winced like it actually pained him to do so as he shook his head. 

“I was getting my signals crossed, wasn’t I?” Eddie sat back as he felt a small stab of a knife in his chest. That shouldn’t have been there either. Who cared if that was the most he’d ever felt from a kiss in a long time? 

“No, no. You weren’t. Trust me, you definitely fucking weren’t. I just...shit.” Richie looked like he was the one who should have felt guilty now. 

“You’re not single, are you?” Eddie looked at him with narrowed eyes as he leaned back in the booth. He caught the stares of the older couple once more and felt like he was an oddity they’d like to pin down like an insect to a board. 

“Fuck, no, I mean...I am. Look, there’s a lot to it but basically when I moved here it was with the intention of _not_ doing this kind of thing. Things I know are going to end and not be more than this.” 

“Things with an expiration date.” Eddie said with a sigh. God, Bev was going to kill him before he got the chance to leave _and_ he wasn’t even going to get laid. 

“Yeah. Like, look...I would really like to, uh, have some fun, you know? But I need to find a little more substance with things.” Richie looked him over and Eddie could see the regret in his face as he did. 

“You chose a hell of a place to move to if you were looking to find something like that. There’s what, like, twenty people in the entire town? It sounds more like you chose abstinence.” Eddie heard the dip of sarcasm in his voice and knew it wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair of him to be upset with Richie for wanting more. He understood what it was like to want more; just as he understood what it was like to settle because it felt like you had to. 

“There’s actually about twenty-thousand residence but some of them live out kind of on the edges of town. And I’m pretty sure I’ve met the majority of them but that’s...just...I chose this place cause it felt secure. I knew Stan from university and when things got bad for me, he suggested I move here so I wouldn’t feel isolated. It’s really not as bad of a place as you seem to think.” 

Richie looked frazzled; had lost some of that confidence that he had seemed to carry around with him. They were touching on something here that Eddie wasn’t entirely certain he wanted to explore. There was a chance that it might feel a little too familiar. A little too close. 

“You kind of come off like you don’t want to be here for someone who apparently chose this place rather than having it forced upon you.” 

“Richie, is this man bothering you?” The older couple had apparently decided they were done just throwing dark glares his way as the wife leaned over to their table. 

“Oh, no, Mrs. Trenton. We’re fine. He’s a friend.” 

Richie gave her a smile as he seemed to flip a switch to being lighthearted. It was like he’d slipped on a mask that hid all that angst Eddie had been seeing. It seemed to work as Eddie received one more glare before the woman turned away to talk quietly to her husband. Richie turned back to him and that jovial mask didn’t disappear again. He gave him a smile that seemed a bit sardonic as he gave a shrug. 

“I mean, yeah, it’s fucking Derry. I’m not saying things aren’t a bit of a drag here sometimes especially when you’re used to living in a big city. You absolutely should get out the first chance you get so you can get back to living your carefree life. Out of everyone here, you have the means and the obvious desire to leave. For me though, the quiet isn’t always my favorite but I don’t know if I’d survive anywhere else right now. Derry’s where I’m supposed to be.” 

“One; my fucking life wasn’t carefree before this so shut up. Two; I didn’t see you as one to get all philosophical about shit.” Eddie had bristled at the suggestion he’d had some sort of ideal life. Sure, he’d had money but that didn’t mean he hadn’t been miserable for other reasons.

“One; fuck you. Sure; maybe it wasn’t carefree but you definitely had an advantage over some of us assholes. Two; I’m a bartender. Philosophical is what we do. Do you want to try some of the rangoons with the eggrolls cause they’re also pretty amazing?”

“What?” Eddie frowned in confusion as Richie took a hard right with the conversation until he realized the waitress was walking up to their table. He sat up a bit straighter as he looked down at the menu he’d been completely ignoring for the last several minutes. 

“Hello; what can I get you two?” The waitress gave them a disinterested smile that was a welcome change from the generally disapproving looks he had been getting. 

“I think we’re going to start off with some egg rolls and crab rangoons. We might need a bit more time to figure out what we want to eat though.” Richie spoke up for both of them as Eddie tried to scan the menu. He knew he’d fall back on the chicken lo mein like he always had when getting chinese food before but he always felt the need to go through his options. 

“I will have those out shortly.” As the waitress walked away, Eddie looked up at Richie with a small bit of surprise. 

“I kind of thought you wouldn’t want to actually eat.” Part of Eddie had expected that Richie would tell their waitress that they had changed their mind. Would decide to take Eddie back to the motel rather than continue to sit here in a setting that definitely felt like a date after he’d just kissed him without asking. Not to mention they had basically been bickering ever since then. 

“God, no, I’m starving. We’re definitely getting some food.” Richie gave him a look like he thought he was insane for suggesting otherwise. The only response Eddie could think of was to flip him off and he was rewarded with a laugh. He felt unreasonably happy to hear that laugh. To get the sense that, despite the way he’d fumbled everything, Richie was still okay spending time with him. 

“Going back to what we were talking about before. What exactly made you decide to be a part of the city council?” Eddie wanted to get back on even footing. To get away from the topic of short termed romances and the privilege he’d grown up with. 

Did it still count as privilege now even though he’d lost it all? Eddie knew it did; he’d swept into this town to stay for free and had the connection needed to help sweep him back out of there in such a short time. He might have lost his money but he still had a lot of the lingering opportunities that had come with it. Part of him felt like that might be a good enough reason for some of the people here to dislike him. 

“Ah, well, Bill asked me to join. I figured it didn’t hurt and sometimes there’s even chances for me to put my Master’s degree to work. Plus, I get to decide whether or not clowns can attend our inconsequential little festival.” 

“You have a fucking Master’s degree?” 

“What? Like it’s hard?” Richie said it in a mocking tone; eyebrows raised as he clearly tried to keep a grin off his face. 

“Fuck you, Elle Woods, I just meant that as you’re working as a bartender when you have a graduate’s degree. Is it a business degree? What?” 

“Business analytics and information systems actually. And, yes, it was boring as hell but apparently, I’m good at piecing things together when I want to. Bartendering’s a lot more fun.” 

Richie gave a shrug as Eddie tried to read just whether he was telling the truth or not. Not about having the Masters but about enjoying bartending better. There had to be far better things to do with his time that paid better than serving drinks in this town. 

“You ever think of doing something with that? You can make a lot of money in business analytics if you find the right company. Not a ridiculous amount but decent.” 

“Eh, not really about the money though, Eduardo. I wasn’t ever one for sitting in an office rotting away behind a desk. I bartend and I do some part time business administrative work with the council. It gets me what I need to make ends meet.” Richie gave him a smile that seemed almost like pity at that moment. Eddie hadn’t meant that everything had to be about money but he couldn’t imagine settling for something like this place if you had the potential for more. 

He had always been told if you were content with life that it meant you weren’t working hard enough. Here it seemed like being content meant you were doing things right. It was kind of sad that he didn’t feel like he could be content living in a musty motel in a town with an equivalent of a city block’s worth of people in it. 

“Have you decided what you want?” The waitress returned and set down the egg rolls and rangoons. Looked expectantly at him as Eddie tried to contemplate it; whether he could possibly be happy here if he just figured out how to slow down. Was he sure he knew what he wanted?

“No…” Eddie realized a second too late that he’d said it out loud and blinked to look up at their waitress. “I mean, yeah, yeah I know. Can I have the chicken lo Mein, please?” 

*

Richie had dropped him off after they’d eaten. Eddie had been surprised to find that the egg rolls were the best he’d ever had. Not to mention the portions they’d been served had been actually filling for once. It had left him feeling like Richie hadn’t been exaggerating with the assumption he’d eaten food with gold cooked into it. He remembered the last time he’d had Chinese food; a place Myra had loved where you paid a ridiculously high price for the equivalent of a noodle laid out in a spiral on the plate. 

Bev had left with Richie so they could go pick up their car. She’d given him a look when the two of them rolled up and Eddie avoided her eyes. Had walked quickly to his room afraid she’d read that sense of contrition on his face. She had called out to him that the hot water was fixed before they’d driven away and he pushed into his room. 

“What the hell is wrong with you, Kaspbrak?” Eddie sat on the edge of the bed where he could see himself staring back in the mirror. He had gotten through ‘linner’ without managing to put his foot in his mouth again though he’d bickered plenty with Richie about small things. Tastes in music and opinions on movies. Now that he was alone though that sense of doubt was weaseling its way back into his mind. 

It wasn’t that he wanted to stay here. That was the last thing he wanted. What he wasn’t sure about though was if he wanted to go back to his old life or not. Eddie hadn’t really ever acknowledged to himself that he’d never truly been happy with any of it. Not just with his marriage. With all of it. Going back with Todd would be going back to what was familiar. It also meant going back to the fakeness of the people around him. He had called everyone he had thought was a friend and the only one that had picked up was Todd. And Eddie, honestly, hated Todd. 

Eddie startled when there was a knock on the door. Before he could even get up to answer it though, Bev swung it open with key in hand. Eddie stood feeling affronted by the intrusion on his privacy. It made sense that she’d have a spare key for all the rooms but this was his room. Using it to barge in like this wasn’t acceptable. 

“Excuse me, you can’t just walk in here!”

“Yeah, I can. I fucking own the place. Why? If you were going to breeze through here in a matter of weeks without a care; couldn’t you at least have had the consideration to leave things the way you found them? I told you Richie was off limits and that he doesn’t need someone fucking around with him.” Bev didn’t necessarily sound mad but she sounded exasperated as she pushed the door closed behind her. 

“I didn’t fuck around with him. It was a single kiss and it was stupid; I acknowledge that. I just didn’t really think it would matter as much as you seem to think it does. And it doesn’t. He told me he wasn’t looking for a fling and I said that was cool.” He knew this would be coming. He had kind of hoped that Richie wouldn’t be the type to kiss and tell but Bev clearly knew what had happened. Eddie crossed his arms over his chest; went into a defensive stance for whatever Bev was ready to dish out at him. 

“Wow, you really are your father’s son, aren’t you?” Bev gave a laugh that was empty of humor. It caught Eddie off guard, the mention of his father, and a small part of him wanted to curl up inside to make himself smaller and quieter. His mother had only ever brought up his father when she wanted to remind him of his place. 

“What does that mean?” 

“It means that you don’t give a shit. At least you’ve been honest about wanting nothing to do with Derry. He was a whole lot of talk that had people convinced for years.” Bev sat down on the edge of his bed looking exhausted. Eddie hesitated before he sat down beside her. He didn’t want to fight, not again. It felt like all he’d done since he got there was argue or defend himself against the town’s memory of his father. It didn’t compute for him, the cordial and kind man he remembered contrasted against the apparent unfulfilled promises to outright lies the town had experienced. 

“Look, I don’t know what my dad fucking promised this place. I hardly even remember it honestly and even then, it's more like a sense of deja vu. Whatever it was he said he’d do for this place, well, I sure the hell don’t have a way to make it up to you all now. I don’t really appreciate this whole ‘sins of the father’ bullshit. I didn’t ask to own this fucking town. Hell, I could have let fucking Myra take it in the divorce and then you all would have had something to bitch about.” 

Eddie ran a hand through his hair; felt like tearing it out right then. He thought he was gaining control of his life when he left Myra but it still felt like it was being controlled by everyone else around him. Felt like he had to rely on others to help him because he couldn’t pull himself out of this. He was going to be relying on fucking _Todd_ to get him out of there for Christ’s sake. 

“That last summer you came here with him, we all went out to the quarry every day we could. Rode the bikes down there and jumped into the water; the four of us. Bill, Stan, me and you. It’s hard to see that kid in you now and maybe it was unfair of us to think we would. And, it is unfair that we’ve been holding you to your father’s word. There’s a lot of old wounds, I think, and some of those haven’t really ever healed. Look, maybe we can try again on this whole mess for this next week. I can’t speak for the whole town but I can at least make an attempt not to act like Kaspbrak is a bad word.” 

Bev gave him a kind smile and held a hand out to him. Eddie eyed it for a moment wondering if this was going to be some elaborate prank. He nodded as he straightened up and took her hand to shake it. 

“Hi. I’m Eddie Kaspbrak. It’s nice to meet you.” 

“Hi, Eddie, I’m Beverly Marsh. And you still made a fucking move on my best friend when I very clearly told you not too.” Bev held onto his hand and gave him a light jab in the shoulder with her other hand.

“It was one little kiss that we both acknowledged wasn’t going to lead anywhere!” Eddie felt a twist of indignation as he jabbed her back to emphasize his words. 

“You still shouldn’t have done it!” Bev poked him back several times this time as she spoke. The two of them devolved into poking at each other’s ribs until they ended up slipping off the edge of the bed. They both landed on the floor with a start which brought their petty jabbing to a stop. 

Eddie gave Bev a look, the two of them sitting in silence for a few seconds, before he surprised himself with a snort of laughter. Bev looked like she wanted to be offended but it was clear she was holding back her own laughter as they made eye contact. 

Eddie had that sense again, that deja vu, as he could almost picture a younger Bev in front of him. Same fiery hair but cut short and the freckles that peppered her cheeks. The memory had the sharp bursts of sunlight on water and an argument turned into a fit of laughter. He felt something sad settle inside him as their laughter died off and Eddie looked around the dingy motel room. He tilted his head back against the bed and stared up at the ceiling. 

“I’m not going to make any more moves on Richie. You don’t have to worry about that. He made it pretty clear he doesn’t want a fling and no matter how nice I think his ass is in those jeans he wears, I can respect that. I promise.” Eddie lifted his hand up between them, pinky finger sticking up as he looked at Bev. She eyed him for a moment before linking her pinky with his. 

“Good. Thank you. I’m going to hold you to that.” Bev seemed to hesitate to unlink their pinkies but she did after a second. Eddie looked up at the ceiling once more where he could see a stain. He wrinkled his nose at the sight of it; hadn’t noticed it before. Suddenly something wet and warm hit him in the face and Eddie sat up to wipe it away. 

“Jesus Christ, what the hell was that?!” Eddie looked up at the ceiling only to get hit by another droplet on his cheek. He felt some of the water get in his mouth and scrambled to get up quickly. “Oh my god, it’s in my fucking mouth. What the fuck is that?” 

“Oh, shit. That fucking pipe must have gone again.” Bev frowned up at the spot on the ceiling as water accumulated once more. “The pipes rattle sometimes and there’s one that runs through there that’s had problems before. Ben working on the water heater might have pushed some pressure through and the seal went. I’ll call him and see if he can come back out. In the meantime, why don’t you grab your stuff?” 

“What? Why am I grabbing my stuff? Is it grey water? Shit, is it grey water because it definitely went into my mouth? Is there lead or asbestos in this building?” Eddie grabbed a Kleenex from the box beside the television to wipe the water off. A sick feeling settled in his gut as he tried not to let his thoughts run wild. 

“Relax, it’s the clean water line and this place isn’t old enough to have asbestos or lead, thank you. I’m just taking you to a different room. Unless you want to stay in the room with the leaking ceiling?” Bev stepped over to the door and gave him an expectant look.

“No, no, yeah. A different room would be good. Thank you, yes.” 

*

“So, I want to prepare you before you see the new room” Bev was leading him down the sidewalk. Eddie had gathered his things together in a rush as he side-stepped around the area where the water had continued to drip. She’d put a bucket down but by the time he’d gotten all his things the leak was getting steadily worse. 

“Look, I can’t imagine how much worse it could possibly get but as long as I don’t have an active lake forming. I’ll manage.” Eddie actually dreaded seeing the new room. If he’d been in the best room in the place to start with he had no hope at all for what he was going to be dealing with now. A truck pulled up as Bev stopped next to one of the doors. They both watched as Ben climbed out in the dim evening light looking apologetic and (sadly) fully dressed. 

“Hey Bev. Eddie, sorry about this. I should have checked before I left. Just not used to you having anyone in this room.” Ben grabbed his tool box from the back of his truck. 

“Hey, don’t worry about it. Plenty of other rooms!” Eddie called back to him with a wave before dropping his voice to a quiet hiss. “I hope you know how much I hate that you’ve made the two hottest available men in town off limits to me.”

“That’s my tree to climb, thank you.” Bev muttered back to him as she grinned in Ben’s direction. “I’ll be down in a second Ben to see what you think. I just want to get Eddie settled in a different room first.” 

Bev turned back to the door and unlocked it before she handed him the key. She pushed the door open and motioned for Eddie to go in first while still clearly distracted by Ben as he carried his tool box into the leaking motel room. Eddie rolled his eyes and stepped into the room ready for the absolute worse. 

“What the fuck is this?” Eddie dropped his bags as he looked at the room in front of him. It wasn’t immaculate by any means and he still definitely believed that he’d need to break out his cleaning supplies but it actually looked...decent. Nice even. The wall paper was a bit newer and even though the bed sheets were the same as the ones in his previous room it somehow felt fresher. 

“So, yeah, that’s what I meant by I wanted to explain. I didn’t really put you in the best room of the house. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with that room aside from, obviously, the pipe leaking now but it’s not gotten the updates most of the other rooms have yet.” Bev gave him a guilty look as Eddie motioned around the room with exasperation. It wasn’t the fucking Ritz but it sure was a step up. 

“We’re fucking even. You can’t be mad at me anymore.” 

“I can be mad at you plenty. This just means I won’t give you constant shit for.” Bev laughed and shook her head as she leaned against the door frame. “You can stay here until your friend comes and whisks you back to your fancy lifestyle.” 

“Oh, well, thank you so much. How very considerate of you.” Eddie flipped Bev off and she returned the gesture. Neither of them could keep the smiles off their faces though. It felt like something had shifted a little between them. 

“I better go help Ben out.” 

“Yeah, you go do that. At least one of us should get laid.” Eddie said as he gathered his toiletry bag back up as he realized some of his stuff and fallen free when he’d set it down. 

“Goodnight Eddie.” He stopped as he heard an almost fond tone in Bev’s voice. He looked up but she’d already stepped back outside. The door closed quietly behind her; left him standing there alone in the room with his things to unpack once more. 

“Goodnight Bev.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your patience for the time between updates.  
> Thank you for reading <3  
> And, as always, any comments are deeply appreciated

**Author's Note:**

> This is in large part inspired by freaking out over Schitt's Creek with @nighthawkms. 
> 
> A fun, feel-good mashing together of two of my favorite things. I didn't tag Schitt's Creek as a fandom because the It characters are going to be more of the focus. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy!


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